#QatarGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen heads time-sheets in-front of @PierreGASLY. #F1

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the time-sheets in FP1 at the Qatar GP ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly who was second and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas who completed the top three.

World Driver’s Championship leader Verstappen held a comfortable margin over AlphaTauri’s Gasly and Mercedes Bottas, starting off the race weekend on positive grounds for Red Bull.

Opening practice took place during the day at the Losail International Circuit, meaning it was not representative of either qualifying or race, which will happen during the night in cooler conditions.

Verstappen spent early proceedings on the white side-walled C1 harder compounds swapping quick lap times with McLaren’s Lando Norris on the C2 medium tyres, but was able to enjoy a 0.3 second gap over the field once they completed their initial stints.

Whilst Bottas at first hit the top of the order for Mercedes when switching onto the C3 red-marked softer rubber – despite exceeding track limits on his fastest flyer – Verstappen was able to strike back and set the session’s best effort of a 1:23.723.

It gave Verstappen a 0.437 second gap over former team-mate Gasly who moved up to second place with a quick run on the softer tyres.

Red Bull did question the abuse of track limits during the session, but the FIA decided not to invalidate any laps despite revealing it would be observing five corners this weekend. Race Director Michael Masi told the Milton Keynes based-squad that he was letting drivers “find their feet” in opening practice before clamping down on it as the race weekend progresses.

Verstappen’s championship-rival Lewis Hamilton, could only finish FP1 in fourth for the Silver Arrows and 0.786 seconds adrift of the Dutchman. Throughout the session, Hamilton reported that his engine was down on power, but was reassured by his race engineer that his straight-line speed was not hugely down compared to his rivals.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda completed the top five, whilst Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc placed sixth and seventh respectively after a late stint on the softs.

The other Red Bull of Sergio Perez was eighth quickest in the session in-front of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and McLaren’s Norris who rounded out the top ten.

Norris was forced to pit after losing power at turn 15, but got back to the pits and returned to the circuit later in the session.

The second McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo took 11th place and ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel who was 12th with the latter reporting something loose on his right foot in the session, calling the German in to pit.

Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi and George Russell came 13th and 16th in the classification respectively as both Alfa Romeo Racing drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen split the Grove based-squad pairing in 14th and 15th places respectively.

Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso ended the session a low 17th and in-front of Haas F1 Team duo Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin who were 18th and at the rear respectively whilst Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll split the Kannapolis/Banbury outfit’s duo in 19th.

You can see the full Formula 1 Ooredoo Qatar Grand Prix 2021 Free Practice 1 Results Classification here at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2021/races/1105/qatar/practice-1.html

#Formula1 Ooredoo #QatarGP 2021 Preview – #F1 #QatarGP