Dutch driver Max Verstappen won his second training session at the French Formula One Grand Prix and interrupted the fastest-running series of Mercedes cars on the Paul Ricard circuit since 2018. Red Bull driver surpassed Valtteri Bottas in the best time of day by a change of time. the first rides. Acting champion Lewis Hamilton finished second and third.
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Finn Valtteri Bottas won the first practice at the French Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Eric Gaillard, Reuters
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Mercedes has been in good shape at Le Castellet for a long time, as in the last races in 2018 and 2019 he always took the first two places at the start in qualifying and then always won thanks to Hamilton. But this time, Red Bull is more competitive than ever with the current leader of the World Championships Verstappen. In the morning, the Dutchman was third behind Bottas by 0.432 seconds, in the afternoon no one beat him with a time of 1: 32.872.
Trainings were also marked by frequent trips off the track. In the introductory part, Mick Schumacher, Júki Cunoda, Carlos Sainz or Sebastian Vettel spun, and Nikita Mazepin also had problems in the afternoon. The theme on Paul Ricard’s circuit is also the aggressive curbs in the second turn. Thanks to them, Bottas first damaged his car, then Verstappen did not avoid similar troubles. Due to debris on the track, a virtual safety car was even announced for a while.
The French Grand Prix returned to the World Cup calendar after a one-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday, he will continue with the third training and qualification from 15:00. The race itself will take place a day later with the start at the same time.
| Trainings for the French Grand Prix of F1 cars |
| First training: |
| 1. Bottas (Fin./Mercedes) 1:33.448 |
| 2. Hamilton (Brit./Mercedes) -0,335 |
| 3. Verstappen (Niz./Red Bull) -0,432 |
| 4. Pérez (Mex./Red Bull) -0.745 |
| 5. Ocon (Fr./Alpine) -0,881 |
| 6. Ricciardo (Austr./McLaren) -1,196 |
| Second training: |
| 1. Verstappen 1:32,872 |
| 2. Bottas -0.008 |
| 3. Hamilton -0,253 |
| 4. Alonso (Šp./Alpine) -0,468 |
| 5. Leclerc (Mon./Ferrari) -0,678 |
| 6. Ocon -0,813. |
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