Montmeló (Spain) (AFP)

Beaten once, not twice? Losing for the first time this season last week, the Mercedes responded by setting the best times of the first two free sessions of the F1 Spanish Grand Prix on Friday.

On the first morning of the sixth round of 2020, it was the Finn Valtteri Bottas who settled at the top of the timesheet, in 1 min 16 sec 785/1000, only 39/1000 ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

In the afternoon, in conditions closer to those of qualifying on Saturday (at 3 p.m. local and French / 1 p.m. GMT) and the race on Sunday (at 3.10 p.m. / 1.10 p.m.), the British leader of the world championship took control in 1 min 16 sec 883/1000, 287/1000 in front of his teammate.

Each time, the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), winner Sunday at Silverstone (Great Britain), took third place, a little below second.

Unsurprisingly, the Silver Arrows therefore once again have the advantage over a round with a view to “qualifying”. In the race, it's less certain ...

Verstappen won F1's 70-year-old GP last week as the Silver Arrows, which started in front of him, had to slow down due to blistered tires.

However, the Barcelona circuit is also demanding for the tires and the temperatures are very hot this weekend (30 degrees in the air, 50 on the track).

- Blisters or not blisters? -

"I hope we will have the chance to prove that we understood (what happened at Silverstone, note), wishes the Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. I think the guys at the factory have done very good job. The analysis I heard sounds good. "

“I didn't see any blisters. But last Friday we didn't see any either, so I can't say much, Hamilton starts to respond. It was okay, I think. Long stints don't didn't look too bad (...) We're close to Red Bull so I think the race will be close. "

Behind Mercedes and Verstappen, a fairly classic top 10 is emerging, with Renault, Racing Point, Ferrari, McLaren and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri). With one exception: Romain Grosjean's Haas finished 6th in the morning and 5th in the afternoon. The French, however, suffered a loss of power during the second session.

Among the other drivers upset by the heat last Sunday, Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr (McLaren) inherited a new chassis this weekend, in the hope of putting an end to the cooling problems of his engine.

The German Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) also changed chassis after the discovery of a "small defect caused by an impact" on the old one.

Also note the return to the track of Mexican Sergio Pérez (Racing Point), after two missed races due to a positive test for the new coronavirus. The 30-year-old driver placed 7th in the morning and 8th in the afternoon.

Spain, meanwhile, on Friday decided on new measures, such as closing nightclubs and banning smoking in the streets unless it can maintain a safety distance of two meters, to stem the resurgence of the virus.

The country, one of the most bereaved in the world by the pandemic, recorded nearly 3,000 new cases on Thursday in 24 hours.

© 2020 AFP