Mugello (Italy) (AFP)
Finland's Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) dominated his illustrious world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton in free practice for the Grand Prix of Tuscany, round 9 of the F1 World Championship, on Friday.
With a time of 1 min 16 sec 989/1000, in the second session, Bottas was the only driver to go below the bar of 1 min 17 per lap, relegating the Englishman to 207/1000 on this circuit of Mugello, high- venue for MotoGP, which has never hosted an F1 GP before.
The six-time world champion had already seemed to be groping in the first session, finishing 4th, half a second behind Bottas.
But in the second, the Briton raised his voice and halved his delay.
While considering the track "as one of the most physical on which I have had to drive for a long time".
Behind the Mercedes, who seem to have already taken the measure of this 5.245 kilometer long track, the Red Bulls are placed in ambush, as often.
"We're very close to Mercedes, which is a good thing. There are things that you can still improve on the balance of the car, but I'm happy. This track is really cool when you drive an F1. , with its big, fast corners, without hairpin ", rejoiced the Dutchman Max Verstappen, third fastest of the day.
- Gasly eighth -
His Thai teammate, Alexander Albon, made good progress from session to session, dropping from 9th to 4th position, but still close to a second behind Bottas.
Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), the French surprise winner on Sunday at Monza, said he was "satisfied to have finished twice in the Top 10" of the day, specifying how much he appreciates this circuit with fast corners.
He set the 8th fastest time in the 2nd session.
On the other hand, at home, Ferrari never ceases to disappoint, like last weekend at Monza.
The prancing horse brand is celebrating its 1000th Grand Prix this weekend on a circuit it owns, but the party promises to be bitter.
After deluding himself in the morning, Charles Leclerc had to settle for 10th place in the afternoon, while his teammate Sebastian Vettel finished 12th, with even a mechanical incident at the very end of the session forcing him to finish the day on foot.
- Ferrari still disappoints -
In the afternoon, two red flags came to neutralize the session.
The first after half an hour, when the young Lando Norris (20), at the wheel of his McLaren, struck the low wall without gravity after having emerged a little wide in the gravel.
The second when Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) collided with Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) coming out of the pits.
This incident will be analyzed by the commissioners of the International Federation (FIA), the organizers announced.
The Mugello circuit is an "old-fashioned" track, narrow, without large areas of clearance, but with gravel traps which immediately penalize the errors of the pilots, and where the brakes and the tires have difficulty cooling, long straight line fault.
Like their mounts, the pilots also suffer there physically from the many high-speed turns.
On Saturday morning, the third free practice session is scheduled for 12 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT), under a bright sun and a temperature of over 30 ° C which will put the machines and drivers to the test.
Qualifying will start at 3:00 p.m.
The Grand Prix of Tuscany is the first of the 2020 season to welcome the public: nearly 3,000 people every day, divided into three stands, due to measures to fight against the coronavirus.
© 2020 AFP