For the first time in two years, the Circuit of the Americas hosted Formula 1 for the first Free Practice of this United States Grand Prix. At the end of the first hour of driving, a trend emerged with a big advantage for Mercedes against Red Bull and in particular that of Max Verstappen.
Refreshed for a few weeks, the W12 of the German team have imposed their law in these FP1 with Valtteri Bottas in the lead in front of his teammate Lewis Hamilton. On a track where top speed plays an important role, the Finn did very well and signed a 1’34 ″ 874 to position himself at the top of the timesheet. Also very fast in Austin, the Englishman was content with 2nd place just 45 thousandths behind his garage neighbor.
Main threat from Mercedes, Max Verstappen could not do anything on the track this Friday. Despite a fresh engine, the Dutchman was unable to compete and finished third, more than 9 tenths behind Valtteri Bottas’ mark! Behind, the Ferraris completed the Top 5 with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz. The two men were respectively 1 ″ 4 and 1 ″ 6 behind the leader.
Small surprise to be noted at the bottom of the Top 10 with the presence of Alfa Romeo in 9th and 10th positions. Antonio Giovinazzi, prey to problems with his helmet, signs the 9th fastest time of the session at 2 full seconds behind Valtteri Bottas while Kimi Räikkönen is ranked 10th, 2 ″ 002 behind his compatriot.
At Alpine, the weekend did not start in the best possible way and especially for Fernando Alonso. Present on the track among the first, the Asturian bull was forced to stop his A521 at turn 12 after a technical problem with the engine. Displaced, his single-seater let fluid flow, suggesting a leak in the powertrain. Luckily, the Spaniard was able to take to the track less than a quarter of an hour from the end of the day without distinguishing himself. He finished 15th at 2 ″ 1 from the lead while Esteban Ocon finished 12th. Everything suggests that the American weekend will be trying for the Blues.
The 1st practice session of #USGP???????? immediately interrupted by Alonso stopped in the loophole. Liquid seems to be flowing under the car ???? pic.twitter.com/AQYn95MMvK
– CANAL + F1® (@ CanalplusF1) October 22, 2021
On the side of Daniel Ricciardo, the reaction still does not come. In the hard in Turkey two weeks ago, the Australian ended this first session in a sad 16th place, more than 2 ″ 5 from the benchmark. Nicholas Latifi, Yuki Tsunoda, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin bring up the rear behind him.
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