Mercedes drivers Valterri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton steered their means via two crimson flags on Friday to the most effective occasions of the primary follow session for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Bottas was quickest around the legendary Imola circuit however was lower than one-tenth of a second quicker than his teammate. Similarly there was a cigarette paper between Hamilton, who gained the opening race in Bahrain, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the younger pretender to the Briton’s world crown. Verstappen was second in Bahrain and Bottas third.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who expects “important answers” from his automobile this weekend, was fourth quickest, forward of Frenchman Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri.
Just behind have been the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso in the Alpine.
The first of the three follow classes was additionally marked by two crimson flags.
An incident between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, which escaped the cameras, resulted in each vehicles broken and off the monitor.
The state of Perez’s rear-left tyre and the Frenchman’s front-right tyre advised contact.
“I’ve only had it from the driver’s perspective but obviously it sounds like Ocon was on a slow lap, and Sergio was on a flying lap and there’s been contact between the two guys into that corner,” mentioned Red Bull group boss Christian Horner.
The second crimson flag got here simply earlier than the tip of the session after Haas rookie Nikita Mazepin went too vast right into a nook and spun.
It was one other unlucky incident for the 22-year-old Russian. He failed to finish the opening lap in Bahrain and has been tagged with the nickname ‘Mazespin’.
The second follow session begins at 1230 GMT.
Practice occasions after first session:
1. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1min 16.564sec, 2. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) at 0.041sec, 3.Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 0.058, 4. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 0.232, 5. Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 0.324, 6. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) st, 7. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 0.893, 8. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 0.925, 9. Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) 1.085, 10. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1.205, 11. George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) 1.302, 12. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1.319, 13. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1.371, 14. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1.42, 15. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1.494, 16. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) 1.664, 17. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) 1.796, 17. Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari) 2.259, 18. Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 2.916, 19. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda) 3.217
Read all of the Latest News and Breaking News right here
