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<strong>FP1:</strong> Bottas narrowly leads Hamilton after opening practice

FP1: Bottas narrowly leads Hamilton after opening practice

Published on 11 Oct 2019 04:32
3
By: Fergal Walsh

Valtteri Bottas has ended the opening practice session from the Japanese Grand Prix weekend on top of the timesheets, less than a tenth ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.

The session remained untouched by rain, as confirmation came prior to the green flag that Saturday's activities have been cancelled in anticipation of Typhoon Hagibis.

With the weekend shortened to two sessions, the second outing later today is expected to be busier than normal, as the teams will have more tyres to play with.

Following the two Mercedes' in the standings was the Ferrari duo, with Sebastian Vettel marginally heading his teammate Charles Leclerc.

The two-by-two followed in fifth and sixth, as Max Verstappen ended up in front his Red Bull partner Alexander Albon, three-tenths of a second separating the two.

Naoki Yamamoto made his Formula 1 debut with Toro Rosso, setting 30 laps in Pierre Gasly's car and ending the session in 17th, one-tenth behind Daniil Kvyat.

Carlos Sainz was 'best of the rest' as he was seventh in the timesheets, however his session wasn't smooth as his car had issues moments after leaving the pits, forcing him to park up and make his way back to the garage on foot.

Antonio Giovinazzi also had a troublesome session, setting just 4 laps before an issue was uncovered on his car. The Italian failed to make it back out onto the circuit and concluded the session at the bottom of the standings.

Sergio Perez was eighth for Racing Point, in front of teammate Lance Stroll, while Lando Norris rounded out the top ten in the second McLaren.

F1Grand Prix Japan - Free practice 1

Circuit Suzuka - 11 October 2019

Driver

Team

Time

Difference

#
1

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes

1:28.731

26
2

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:28.807

+0.076

25
3

Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari

1:29.720

+0.989

26
4

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:29.912

+1.181

20
5

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:30.046

+1.315

22
6

Alexander Albon

Red Bull Racing

1:30.375

+1.644

24
7

Carlos Sainz jr

McLaren

1:30.702

+1.971

21
8

Sergio Perez

Racing Point

1:30.810

+2.079

21
9

Lance Stroll

Racing Point

1:30.959

+2.228

27
10

Lando Norris

McLaren

1:31.001

+2.270

24
11

Romain Grosjean

Haas F1

1:31.283

+2.552

25
12

Kimi Räikkönen

Alfa Romeo Racing

1:31.307

+2.576

27
13

Nico Hülkenberg

Renault

1:31.426

+2.695

29
14

Daniel Ricciardo

Renault

1:31.563

+2.832

25
15

Kevin Magnussen

Haas F1

1:31.785

+3.054

22
16

Daniil Kvyat

Toro Rosso

1:31.920

+3.189

23
17

Naoki Yamamoto

Toro Rosso

1:32.018

+3.287

30
18

George Russell

Williams

1:32.800

+4.069

23
19

Robert Kubica

Williams

1:33.484

+4.753

27
20

Antonio Giovinazzi

Alfa Romeo Racing

1:36.887

+8.156

4

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F1 News Valtteri Bottas Mercedes

Replies (3)

abhidbgt

Posts: 283
It's like Hamilton said about Ferrari these upgrades that Merrcedes brought to Japan have added jets onto that Mercedes they were faster on straights (outright straightline speed) and they have always been quicker in the corners this year. Still a long way to go but they do look ominous. Times change fast in F1 and that's also one of the charms of F1.
:D
- + 0
- Oct 11 2019 - 04:41
f1fan0101

Posts: 1,804
great effort by yamamoto, nice to see him there
- + 0
- Oct 11 2019 - 05:06
xoya

Posts: 583
Wow! A guy with no experience is faster than Kubica and Russell in Williams car. Dark times.
- + 0
- Oct 11 2019 - 13:41