• Free Practice 1 Classification and times

  • Nikita Mazepin A danger on and off the circuits

  • Alonso and Sainz A common obsession on the circuit that puts everyone in their place

Just half a second behind the Mercedes. And with a harder tire, more designed for the race than for the decisive qualifying. That was the encouraging balance for Ferrari after the first free session of the Spanish GP, where

Charles Leclerc

-fifth- and

Carlos Sainz

-sixth- confirmed the good feelings on a lap offered last Sunday in Portimao. Much fewer conclusions can be drawn from the staging of

Fernando Alonso

, fifteenth, who preferred to mount the soft tires when the track was still too

green

.

The dominance of

Valtteri Bottas

(1: 18.504) 12 hundredths faster than

Lewis Hamilton

, also anticipates a vibrant pulse against Red Bull, who took advantage of the last nine minutes to launch

Max Verstappen

and

Sergio Pérez

at full

speed

. Nothing was known about the alleged problems of the Dutchman with his battery, because he finished only 33 thousandths of the tip. The final furious grip of the Mexican, after a brush against

Daniel Ricciardo

, heralds strong emotions for the whole weekend.

Alonso had opted for a reverse order to face the morning.

His first relief, on soft tires, was enough for a moment of glory (1: 19.950).

Only a minute later, Hamilton snatched the lead, with a record two tenths faster.

Track conditions were improving by the minute, allowing even

Sebastian Vettel

to rub shoulders with the elite.

Both the Alpine and the Aston Martin ended up relegated in the timesheets.

Norris again

The most unpleasant moment of the morning was suffered by

Robert Kubica

, who replaced

Kimi Raikkonen

at Alfa Romeo, with a spin on the revamped Turn 10 until he was sunk in the gravel. With only a quarter of an hour to go, the red flag spread unease across the

paddock

. Some, like Red Bull and Ferrari, had not yet had time to test the soft tires, essential in qualifying on Saturday.

Deliberately,

Charles Leclerc

and Sainz voluntarily gave up on that compound, though they sneaked in just behind the Mercedes and

Lando Norris in between

. The Monegasque (1: 18.996) beat his boxing partner by only 24 thousandths (1: 19.020). An interesting starting point for

Mattia Binotto's

troop

, who seems to be planning his jump to Q3 with a risky bet.

In order not to

break

the habit,

Nikita Mazepin

lost control of his Haas at the exit of Turn 8. His tenth incident in 13 sessions of the 2021 World Championship. The morning would be more profitable for rookie

Roy Nissany

, in the usual

George Russell's

seat

in Williams.

The seventeenth Israeli even beat

Mick Schumacher

by 66 thousandths

.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Fernando Alonso

  • Formula 1

  • sports

  • Lewis hamilton

  • Max verstappen

  • Carlos Sainz Jr

  • Mercedes gp

Formula 1The best day of Carlos Sainz with Ferrari and the suffering of Fernando Alonso in Portimao

Formula 1 Verstappen also scares Mercedes almost blindly

Formula 1 'Pole' for Hamilton at Imola after an ugly step back from Sainz and Alonso

See links of interest

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