Bottas Tops First Practice in Spain
MADRID (Dispatches) - Valtteri Bottas headed Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in a tight first practice at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Bottas in the Mercedes was just 0.033 seconds quicker than Verstappen’s Red Bull, with Lewis Hamilton 0.123secs behind his Finnish team-mate.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth quickest, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly was seventh, ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin.
The session followed the pattern of the season so far at the front, the Mercedes and Red Bull cars extremely closely matched, and McLaren and Ferrari their closest challengers.
Ferrari’s pace was notable for coming on the medium tyre, while almost all the other drivers set their fastest time on the faster soft, which the Italian team did not use.
Norris was just 0.440secs off the pace in the McLaren, as he tried a new front wing and floor for the team’s first big upgrade of the season.
Leclerc was only 0.052secs off Norris, with team-mate Sainz just 0.024secs further back.
Bottas in the Mercedes was just 0.033 seconds quicker than Verstappen’s Red Bull, with Lewis Hamilton 0.123secs behind his Finnish team-mate.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was fourth quickest, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly was seventh, ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin.
The session followed the pattern of the season so far at the front, the Mercedes and Red Bull cars extremely closely matched, and McLaren and Ferrari their closest challengers.
Ferrari’s pace was notable for coming on the medium tyre, while almost all the other drivers set their fastest time on the faster soft, which the Italian team did not use.
Norris was just 0.440secs off the pace in the McLaren, as he tried a new front wing and floor for the team’s first big upgrade of the season.
Leclerc was only 0.052secs off Norris, with team-mate Sainz just 0.024secs further back.