Max third in Barcelona FP1

Published on 14 August 2020 by Stefan Meens

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen clocked the third quickest time in the opening free practice session of the Spanish Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas lapped the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya quickest ahead of Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton.

At the start of the session, we see couple of new and familiar faces in the cockpit. Sergio Perez is back at Racing Point after missing out on two Grand Prix due to contracting Covid-19. It means that his replacement, Nico Hulkenberg, is back on the side-lines. At Williams, Roy Nissany is taking over FP1 duties from regular driver George Russel.

The first half an hour can hardly be called action-packed. Apart from several installation laps, only a handful of drivers actually set a time.

Then, Max ventures out on track for his first flying laps. He does so on the hard Pirelli compound. Straight away, Max sets the quickest lap thus far, before quickly being usurped by Bottas on the medium tyres.

At the halfway mark, Max is down in fourth behind both Mercedes and third-placed Sergio Perez in the Racing Point.

The laptimes of the top ten are within seven tenths of a second. That is until the Mercedes bolt on the soft Pirellis. After flying laps of Bottas and Hamilton, the best of the rest is Romain Grosjean in the Haas, a second and a half slower.

Not long after, Red Bull Racing decide to send their driver pairing out on the soft Pirelli tyres as well. Max clocks the third quickest time in his RB16. Alexander Albon’s best effort grants him eighth fastest.

In the closing stages, the teams appear to want to save tyres for the remainder of the weekend, resulting in no times being bettered.

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Results first free practice Spain: