Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton dominated the introductory training for the Spanish Grand Prix. The Finnish driver won the first race, the reigning world champion, who will attack the jubilee 100th pole position in his career in Barcelona, succeeded in the afternoon session.
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Lewis Hamilton could be happy with his performance
Albert Gea, Reuters
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On the other hand, Max Verstappen from Red Bull made a mistake when trying for a fast lap in the second practice and after noon second place he finished ninth this time. Charles Leclerc from Ferrari pushed into the top three. The ascending form was also confirmed by Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso from Alpine, who finished in fourth and fifth place.
Hamilton, who leads the championship ahead of Verstappen by eight points, hopefully started the journey with the fastest time of the day for a possible third victory of the season. Bottas lost 139 thousandths of a second to him in the second half.
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In addition to the track limits, drivers in Barcelona will have to pay special attention to the local curbs. Verstappen damaged his front wing in both training sessions, and Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz also had problems.
In the first practice, spare drivers Roy Nissany from Williams and Robert Kubica from Alfa Romeo also appeared on the track. In the end, however, the Polish pilot flew off the track and did not finish the ride.
The Spanish Grand Prix program will continue on Saturday with the third practice (12:00) and qualifiers (15:00). The race is scheduled for Sunday.
| Trainings for the Spanish Grand Prix, Formula 1 World Championship race in Barcelona: |
| First training: |
| 1. Bottas (Fin./Mercedes) 1: 18.504 |
| 2. Verstappen (Niz./Red Bull) -0,033 |
| 3. Hamilton (Brit./Mercedes) -0,123 |
| 4. Norris (Brit./McLaren) -0,440 |
| 5. Leclerc (Mon./Ferrari) -0,492 |
| 6. Sainz (Šp./Ferrari) -0,516. |
| Second training: |
| 1. Hamilton 1:18,170 |
| 2. Bottas -0.139 |
| 3. Leclerc -0,165 |
| 4. Ocon (Fr./Alpine) -0,296 |
| 5. Alonso (Šp./Alpine) -0,348 |
| 6. Gasly (Fr./AlphaTauri) -0,423 |
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