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

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

    With his fourth Formula 1 title within touching distance, Lewis Hamilton topped the times in the first free practice session ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

    Hamilton’s 1m36.335s lap was half a second faster than his championship rival Sebastian Vettel, who finished the session second.

    Red Bull set the pace early in the session. Max Verstappen was the first man on slick tyres, with a pre-season shower putting intermediate tyres in demand in the first half an hour. Vettel and Felipe Massa both bettered his time before Daniel Ricciardo jumped of the order.

    Ricciardo didn’t improve again and dropped back to 16th as others found time. Verstappen did go back to the top briefly before Hamilton, Vettel, and Valtteri Bottas knocked him back to fourth.

    Stoffel Vandoorne set the fifth fastest lap whilst team-mate Fernando Alonso failed to set a time. McLaren found a hydraulics leak on the Spaniard’s car which confined him to the pits until the final 10 minutes.

    Making his Formula 1 debut, Brendon Hartley suffered a difficult session. Having not driven an F1 car since his time as a Mercedes test driver in 2013, Hartley had problems with his helmet and driving position at high speeds. Though the problem still remained at the end of the session, Hartley managed to finish 14th fastest, more than a second faster than Sean Gelael in the other Toro Rosso. Galael took 17th.

    Massa took sixth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Esteban Ocon, who span in damp conditions early in the session. Team-mate Sergio Perez finished ninth.

    Having switched to Renault for the remainder of the season, Carlos Sainz Jnr kicked off his time with his new team with a 10th place in FP1. His lap was more than eight tenths of a second faster than Nico Hulkenberg’s, the German finishing 13th behind Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll.

    Romain Grosjean could only manage 15th fastest, nine tenths of a second behind Magnussen.

    Sauber regular Marcus Ericsson beat Friday driver Charles Leclerc at the bottom of the order.

TIMES:

1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:36.335 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
2. Sebastian Vettel - 1:36.928 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
3. Valtteri Bottas - 1:36.979 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
4. Max Verstappen - 1:37.339 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
5. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:37.352 / McLaren-Honda / Belgium
6. Felipe Massa - 1:37.570 / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil
7. Kimi Raikkonen – 1:37.598 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
8. Esteban Ocon - 1:37.808 / Force India-Mercedes / France
9. Sergio Perez - 1:37.861 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
10. Carlos Sainz - 1:38.093 / Renault-Renault / Spain
11. Kevin Magnussen - 1:38.408 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
12. Lance Stroll - 1:38.534 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
13. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:38.904 / Renault-Renault / Germany
14. Brendon Hartley - 1:39.267 / Toro Rosso-Renault / New Zealand 
15. Romain Grosjean - 1:39.336 / Haas-Ferrari / France
16. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:39.366 / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia
17. Sean Gelael - 1:40.406 / Toro Rosso-Renault / Indonesia*
18. Marcus Ericsson - 1:40.448 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
19. Charles Leclerc - 1:40.828 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco*
20. Fernando Alonso - NO TIME SET / McLaren-Honda / Spain

* - Driving in FP1 only

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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