Mercedes led the way in FP1 of F1 Russian GP with Valtteri Bottas ahead of Lewis Hamilton, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third.
Amid concerns of a wet weather weekend, it was dry to start off in FP1 of F1 Russian GP. Mercedes led the way with Bottas (1m34.427s) ahead of Hamilton (1m34.638s), who had Red Bull’s Verstappen (1m34.654s) only 0.016s behind him in third.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m35.117s) slotted in fourth with a brand new power unit, as he led Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m35.781s) and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m35.794s) in fifth and sixth. The Monegasque’s teammate Carlos Sainz (1m35.811s) was seventh.
The leading McLaren of Lando Norris (1m35.959s) was only eighth ahead of the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez (1m36.188s), as Alpine duo ended up 10th and 11th, with Fernando Alonso (1m36.225s) leading teammate Esteban Ocon.
Amid track limits lap deletion, there was a minor off for Norris at Turn 10 and he also tapped the wall at pit entry to spin after the session – he damaged his front wing in a strange incident. he race control deployed the Virtual Safety Car to clear out debris at T1.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was 12th from Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi, who had lock-ups multiple times in the session, but was still able to better McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. The returning Kimi Raikkonen was 14th in his Alfa Romeo machine.
The Finn had a minor off moment too, as he led AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, who noted that the car felt very nervous. The Williams duo were next, with George Russell ahead of Nicholas Latifi, as Haas’ Nikita Mazepin led Mick Schumacher.
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