Mexican GP: Free Practice #1 - Re-Cap & Times

MEXICAN GP - FREE PRACTICE #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    Valtteri Bottas topped times in a disrupted free practice session ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix.

    Bottas was more than four tenths of a second faster than team-mate Lewis Hamilton in second. The pair swapped positions at the top of the order in the early stages of the race, before Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen joined the competition.

    At the midpoint of the session, Vettel was top of the order, but dropped down to fifth before the chequered flag.

    Verstappen finished just behind the Mercedes duo, less than a tenth of a second faster than team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

    The first 90-minute-session in Mexico City was paused twice by a virtual safety car and red flag, brought out by Brendon Hartley and Alfonso Celis Jnr, one of the four Friday drivers running.

    Hartley came to a stop on track in only his second FP1 session of his Formula 1 career. Track action died as the virtual safety car was deployed, but Hartley managed to get the car going again and returned to the pits. He finished the session 18th, a tenth of a second slower than Sean Gelael in 17th.

    Celis’ incident brought out the red flag after he lost the rear end of the Force India and hit the wall in the closing stages of the race. He was the slowest driver to complete a lap time, more than four seconds behind Bottas at the top of the order.

    Ferrari juniors Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc were the two other Friday drivers running. Giovinazzi in the Haas was the faster of the two, finishing 0.2s faster than Leclerc in the Sauber.

    A suspected engine problem kept Stoffel Vandoorne in the pits for the majority of the session. He managed to set an instillation lap, when McLaren detected a “potential issue”. It was later found to just be a wheel problem.

    Things were more successful for team-mate Fernando Alonso, who finished the session eighth, behind Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen.

    Felipe Massa finished ninth, ahead of the Renault duo. Nico Hulkenberg got the better of new team-mate Carlos Sainz Jnr, who finished just 0.002s slower than the German.

    Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen, and Pascal Wehrlein finished 12th, 13th, and 14th.

TIMES:

1. Valtteri Bottas - 1:17.824 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
2. Lewis Hamilton - 1:18.290 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
3. Max Verstappen - 1:18.395 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
4. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:18.421 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia
5. Sebastian Vettel - 1:18.586 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
6. Kimi Raikkonen – 1:19.008 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
7. Sergio Perez - 1:19.240 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
8. Fernando Alonso – 1:19.346 / McLaren-Honda / Spain
9. Felipe Massa - 1:19.443 / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil
10. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:19.552 / Renault-Renault / Germany
11. Carlos Sainz - 1:19.554 / Renault-Renault / Spain
12. Lance Stroll - 1:19.772 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
13. Kevin Magnussen - 1:20.644 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
14. Pascal Wehrlein - 1:20.971 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
15. Antonio Giovinazzi - 1:21.269 / Haas-Ferrari / Italy*
16. Charles Leclerc - 1:21.446 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco*
17. Sean Gelael - 1:21.639 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Indonesia*
18. Brendon Hartley - 1:21.747 / Toro Rosso-Renault / New Zealand 
19. Alfonso Celis Jnr - 1:22.342 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico*
20. Stoffel Vandoorne – NO TIME SET / McLaren-Honda / Belgium

* - Driving in FP1 only

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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