Spanish GP: Valtteri Bottas top as Daniel Ricciardo crashes
Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Valtteri Bottas led Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two at an incident-packed first practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday.
The Finn was 0.849 seconds quicker than Hamilton, although Bottas was using a softer tyre than the world champion when they set their fastest times.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were third and fourth, with the German 0.950secs off the pace.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo crashed as drivers struggled in windy conditions.
The Australian ran wide after an oversteer moment at Turn Four and touched the barrier, damaging his front wing and left-hand front suspension.
He was third quickest at the time but dropped down to seventh at the end of the session, behind team-mate Max Verstappen and the McLaren of Fernando Alonso.
- Who will top the podium in Spain?
- Spanish Grand Prix: Can Barcelona provide another thriller?
- Spanish Grand Prix coverage details
- First practice results
Kubica returns
Robert Kubica made his first appearance at a grand prix weekend since the end of the 2010 season, replacing Russian Sergey Sirotkin as reserve and development driver at Williams.
Kubica, who has only partial movement in his right arm after the rally accident that curtailed his career in February 2011, was 19th quickest as Williams struggled on a track that exposes the car's aerodynamic weaknesses, but the Pole was 1.246secs quicker than team-mate Lance Stroll.
The Canadian had just set his quickest time when he went off at Turn Four and ended his session. Kubica set his fastest lap on his next tour after the yellow flag for Stroll's incident was rescinded, on the same type of super-soft tyre. The team did not reveal whether the cars were in the same specification.
Hope for McLaren
Alonso's performance at his home race was encouraging for McLaren, who have introduced a major upgrade to their car, featuring an elaborate new nose design, and hope to make progress towards the front of the field.
Alonso ended the session 0.6secs slower than Verstappen. It had been McLaren's ambition to match Red Bull this year, before McLaren's difficult start to the season led to internal ructions and the removal of Tim Goss from his role as chief technical officer chassis before the last race in Azerbaijan.
Bottas the boss
Bottas dominated the session for Mercedes. The Finn, who has been in a rich vein of form in the past three races and would be leading the championship had he not suffered a puncture while leading in Baku two weeks ago, was 0.302secs quicker than Hamilton as the two both race the soft tyre early in the session.
Bottas then continued with the soft while Hamilton switched to the slower but more durable medium to assess its capabilities in the race, allowing Bottas to stretch his advantage.
Ferrari looked surprisingly off the pace, but that has often been the case in Friday practice this season only for them to improve on Saturday when it matters.
Almost all drivers had moments. Haas driver Romain Grosjean had an off at Turn Four and a spin. Bottas, Vettel, Kubica and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson all had spins, and many others ran wide or had wobbles as the strong wind played havoc with the cars' aerodynamics on this exposed track.
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And they said Botass was simply hired to be an easy no.2 for Lewis. Ha, ha, ha, ha!
Let's see them man up and admit they're wrong.
What if Kubica really is 1.45 seconds faster than Stroll?
What if Bottas hadn't had his puncture?
What if the Red Bulls hadn't crashed into each other in China?
Or even what if Max V had better awareness of rules and hadn't crashed into other cars so many times this season?
I've enjoyed this season - let's have more of the same please!
What you constantly fail to understand about F1 is that, as supporters we follow different drivers rather like football teams. So it would be great if we could see how our driver did as opposed to just reading through your entire article to see if they get a mention.
I spoke to Lewis Hamilton last night and he said the 3 of you hating him keeps him up at night!
He was wondering if the 3 of you could find it in your hearts if you have one to be civil!
I said to him don't bother :)
"Why is this borefest in the sport section?"
Why are YOU posting your borefest in the sports section? You're clearly a football fan...which isn't a sport as much as 90 minutes of synchronised mincing around with a bag of air...
Anneque, there is nothing wrong with being old and wrinkly (me too)
, or female and doesn't mean you won't understand F1..... however.......
which Louis are you hoping will win?? Louis XIV, Louis Vuitton, Louis Spence. Personally I''m hoping for a Lewis win :) :P xx
(I still pray for my LeClerc podium too :D)
Seriously, 0.6secs is massive in F1. You look like chumps.
Williams; oh dear, pay drivers over a second slower than a disabled guy; you really have sunk very low.
Same for qualifying.
You call yourself an F1 page, when often I have to go to other sites to collect the information you provide.
This is how it should be stated (at the bottom for those interested.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/135936/bottas-leads-mercedes-12-in-first-practice
If I remember correctly, I think Stroll has virtually admitted he's rubbish, and implied he's afraid to try to take the car to its limits.