In addition to the exciting new format Sprintthe cars seem in a tighter space than ever after the Free Practice 1 of the Azerbaijan GP. Max Verstappen has achieved the best time, but only by 0.037 compared to Charles Leclerc and by 0.137 about his partner, Czech Prez. Ferrari seems to have a lot to say this weekend, as Carlos Sainz was fourth and it seems to adapt very well to the urban of Bak, as has traditionally happened to those of Maranello. The man from Madrid was already fourth with the tough ones, ahead of the Monegasque
Alonso saves a soft game
Fernando Alonso was eighth, almost equaling the time of his teammate Lance Stroll, but with a small difference. The Asturian has completed the entire session with a single media set, with which he has done 20 laps to test his durability for the race. On the 19th of his journey, he achieved the personal best time, staying 1.2 seconds behind Verstappen on the new softs. In time compensated for compounds, he may have the best record of all.
He looks very confident in the car and the security of blindly going out to an official Classification (3:00 p.m.), which determine the order of Sunday, without even testing the soft ones, like the rest of the grill. Instead of thatand save the game, which may come in handy for the rest of a new adventure in F1 history. Two classifications and two different races.
brake problems on mercedes
The change of the Front brake coolers did not have an optimal fit for the Mercedes and both Hamilton and Russell they wasted 20 minutes to try to solve it. Precious time wasted for a weekend where only these FP1s were on the agenda. The rest are grades and careers.
gasly fire
For his part, Pierre Gasly watched his Alpine catch fire from the engine part, although it seemed a matter of the gearbox. He was trying to get to the box, but in the end he couldn’t and had to go out through the loophole so they could extinguish the fire. The Frenchman must go out blindly to the ‘qualification’ and the reliability problems return to the Enstone car.
The red flag was raised, with 44 minutes to go, but time kept running, to the despair of the drivers, since it is the only thing they were not going to have before Qualifying (15:00 Spanish time). Everything resumed with 31 minutes to go.
Verstappen and Checo commanded from the start
With the first set of tires, interrupted by the red flag of GaslyMax Verstappen and Czech price they were in front, although late in the shootout Lannce Stroll squeezed between them with the same midfield compound.
Sainz was fourth with the hard ones, despite a slight touch with the plastic of the wall and a straight exit through a loophole. He immediately recovered to get ahead of Leclerc, who was also outclassed by De Vries,
For his part, Fernando Alonso, was seventh, shooting with means and without taking any unnecessary risk, taking into account what was ahead. Survival can be a triumph this weekend. He had set two good first sectors, but the absence of DRS on the straight due to a breakdown prevented him from completing his best time at that start. The problem was solved in a moment in the pits
After the first set of tires.
1 M. Verstappen Red Bull (M) 1’43″834 13
2 L. Stroll Aston Martin (M) 1’44″053 +00″219 16
3 S. Perez Red Bull (M) 1’44″116 +00″282 13
4 C. Sainz Ferrari (R) 1’44″234 +00″400 15
5 C. Leclerc Ferrari (R) 1’44″420 +00″586 13
6 N. De Vries AlphaTauri (M) 1’44″866 +01″032 14
7 F. Alonso Aston Martin (M) 1’44″893 +01″059 13
8 G. Russell Mercedes (M) 1’45″082 +01″248 13
9 A. Albon Williams (M) 1’45″330 +01″496 14
10 L. Norris McLaren (H) 1’45″344 +01″510 15
11 Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri (M) 1’45″473 +01″639 9
12 L. Hamilton Mercedes (M) 1’45″789 +01″955 11
13 N. Hulkenberg Haas (M) 1’45″931 +02″097 14
14 E. Ocon Alpine (M) 1’45″955 +02″121 8
