Bottas opened the French Grand Prix weekend with the fastest time in the first practice session

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team during opening training for that returned to the front of the pack French Grand Prix on Friday, with Valtteri Bottas Overtaking teammates Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes only scored six points in the last two races Azerbaijan Grand Prix last time they saw they didn’t get a top ten finish for any of the drivers.

But in an eventful first session in Circuit Paul Ricard, Bottas took the top spot with a best time of 1: 33.448, which was more than a third of a second ahead of his seven-time world champion team-mate, while the current championship leader, Max Verstappen, was third, another tenth behind.

Bottas survived a moment at the exit of the second corner when the Finn ran far and damaged his front wing over the curb. He wouldn’t be the only driver testing the track limits in this corner Kimi Raikkonen and Pierre Gasly have moments there too.

Mick Schumacher spun from round three within seconds of the session, with the Uralkali Haas F1 Team Driver cutting off the wall when he lost the car while braking while Sebastian Vettel, fresh from his first podium with the Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 team in Azerbaijan another driver had a slip, this time in turn eleven. Both drivers were able to return to the pits and continue their sessions.

Another driver who was looking the wrong way was Scuderia Ferrari‘s Carlos Sainz Jr.who lost control in turn two on his first run on the soft tire.

Verstappen was on course for a faster lap than he ultimately managed, but a mistake at turn eleven cost him valuable time and meant that he was no better than third while Red Bull Racing team-mate Sergio Perez, who won the race in Azerbaijan two weeks ago, was fourth fastest.

A late flying round of Esteban Ocon moved the Alpine F1 team fifth, with the Frenchman enjoying his first training session since his long-term future on the team was clarified earlier this week. It was an all-round good session for Alpine before their home game, with Fernando Alonso in the end seventh.

In between were the two alpine riders McLaren F1 team‘s Daniel Ricciardo, with the Australian looking to get his season going again after being outdone by his teammate so far Lando Norris. Norris himself ended up in ninth place, with Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda‘s Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda Eighth and tenth.

After taking pole position in the last two races, Charles Leclerc finished eleventh in the leading Ferrari, but team-mate Sainz was only sixteenth after his spin. Antonio Giovinazzi and Raikkones laid theirs Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C41-Ferrari is in twelfth and thirteenth place respectively, just ahead of the two Aston Martins. Lance walk Ousting Vettel.

Nicholas Latifi was seventeenth in the leading Williams races Machine while his teammate for the meeting, Roy Nissany, ended twentieth and last when he took the place of George Russell. Eighteenth place in the battle of the Haas riders Nikita Mazepin was six tenths of a second faster than teammate Schumacher in ninth place.

Free practice 1 result