Spanish GP: Lewis Hamilton gets past ‘Flying Finns’ to top first practice session – Hamilton recorded his fastest lap at 21.521 seconds
Mercedes Valtteri Bottas in followed by Ferraris Sebastian Vettel during the first free practice. (Reuters – Albert Gea)
Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton fended off his team-mate Valtteri Bottas to emerge as the quickest driver as Mercedes made one-two finish in the opening practice session of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona race track on Friday.
Hamilton, who clocked his fastest lap of one minute and 21.521 seconds, was nearly 0.029 seconds faster than Bottas, Sport24 reported.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished third quickest ahead of his team-mate and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo clocked fifth and sixth fastest, respectively.
Vettel is currently leading the drivers’ championship with 86 points ahead of Hamilton on 73 with Bottas up to third with 63 points.
1st Free Practice Session from the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday
1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:21.521
2. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes 1:21.550
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:22.456
4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1:22.600
5. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull – TAG Heuer 1:22.706
6. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull – TAG Heuer 1:23.084
7. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) Haas – Ferrari 1:23.670
8. Romain Grosjean (France) Haas – Ferrari 1:23.758
9. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Renault 1:23.993
10. Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso – Renault 1:24.004
11. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India – Mercedes 1:24.188
12. Esteban Ocon (France) Force India – Mercedes 1:24.324
13. Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium) McLaren 1:24.400
14. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 1:24.618
15. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso – Renault 1:24.642
16. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber – Ferrari 1:24.966
17. Pascal Wehrlein (Germany) Sauber – Ferrari 1:25.182
18. Lance Stroll (Canada) Williams-Mercedes 1:25.919
19. Sergey Sirotkin (Russia) Renault 1:26.293
20. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren
(With Agencies Inputs)
