Tuscan Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Bottas Shatters Record

Valtteri Bottas improved the previous Mugello circuit record by nearly a second, just ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull-Honda. Leclerc follows three-tenths behind in his Ferrari SF1000.

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Rédigé par Par

Start of the weekend and an unprecedented FP1 at the Mugello circuit, which most drivers are discovering. The first session ends with a close duel between Bottas (1:17.879) and Verstappen (1:17.927), the two drivers separated by less than 0.05 seconds.

All the drivers entered the track at the very beginning of the session to immediately navigate the Mugello circuit, completing a single reconnaissance lap. After 10 minutes, Valtteri Bottas set the first timed lap of the session at 1:22.124. He soon improved his time, setting a 1:20.645, before further improving to 1:20.540. Gasly followed less than half a second behind the Finnish driver, before surpassing the Mercedes driver’s mark by being the first driver to set a time under 1:20, with a 1:19.859.

After the first half-hour of the session, Max Verstappen is at the top of the timesheet with 1:19.439, followed by Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc sets the second fastest time just behind the Dutchman before the latter clocks a 1:19.017.

At mid-session, all the drivers return to their garages to make adjustments to prepare for the second part of the session. The drivers all go out on soft tires. With 40 minutes remaining in the session, Kimi Räikkönen is the first to leave the pits and sets the 3rd fastest time, 0.2 seconds behind Verstappen. Lando Norris becomes the first driver to go below the 1 minute 19 mark with a 1:18.981.

Lewis Hamilton breaks the circuit record with a time of 1:18.409 while half an hour remains in the session, before Bottas betters the Briton’s mark by more than half a second with a 1:17.879, becoming the first driver to set a time under 1:18 on the Mugello circuit. With 25 minutes left in FP1, Bottas is leading just ahead of Verstappen, Leclerc, Hamilton, and Esteban Ocon.

The drivers then perform race simulations in the last 20 minutes of the session. Nicholas Latifi spins harmlessly in turn 2 and manages to get out of the gravel. Several drivers, like Vettel and Sainz, complain about the wear on their front tires.

Verstappen and Leclerc are therefore interposed between the two Mercedes in the final FP1 standings. Bottas and Hamilton are separated by more than half a second. Pierre Gasly is the first non-Mercedes/Red Bull/Ferrari driver, nearly 8 tenths off the Finnish driver’s benchmark, just ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Renault. Sebastian Vettel, for his part, is 13th, nearly one and a half seconds behind Valtteri Bottas.

Classification of FP1 for the Tuscany Grand Prix:

Driver Team Times Gap Laps
1
Bottas Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport 1:17.879
33
2
Verstappen Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1:17.927 +0.048
32
3
Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari 1:18.186 +0.307
27
4
Hamilton Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport 1:18.409 +0.530
28
5
Gasly Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:18.676 +0.797
30
6
Ocon Renault DP World F1 Team 1:18.805 +0.926
28
7
Kvyat Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:18.839 +0.960
31
8
Norris McLaren F1 Team 1:18.981 +1.102
30
9
Albon Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1:19.068 +1.189
34
10
Ricciardo Renault DP World F1 Team 1:19.140 +1.261
25
11
Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:19.219 +1.340
21
12
Grosjean Haas F1 Team 1:19.224 +1.345
25
13
Vettel Scuderia Ferrari 1:19.267 +1.388
27
14
Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1:19.322 +1.443
28
15
Sainz Jr. McLaren F1 Team 1:19.457 +1.578
33
16
Russell Williams Racing 1:19.478 +1.599
29
17
Magnussen Haas F1 Team 1:19.551 +1.672
25
18
Stroll BWT Racing Point F1 Team 1:19.836 +1.957
23
19
Perez BWT Racing Point F1 Team 1:19.840 +1.961
29
20
Latifi Williams Racing 1:20.034 +2.155
32
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