Robert Kubica drove the second Alfa Romeo in the opening practice of the French GP
Valtteri Bottas did not put a helmet on his head on Friday afternoon. PDO
1. free exercises
1. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari 1.33.930
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull +0.091
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari +0.338
4. George Russell, Mercedes +0.951
5. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +1.049
The F1 season continues this weekend in the heat of southern France.
In Friday’s opening practice, two tough names were allowed to take time off from driving duties. Alfa Romeo gave driving responsibility For Robert KubicaMercedes to Nyck de Vries.
The rule change drawn up for this season forces every team to run young drivers with little experience in their cars during Friday practice. The experienced Kubica is eligible for this, as he has only had two GP starts in the past two seasons.
Kubica, who brings Orlen sponsorship euros to the team, was replaced by Bottas at Paul Ricard. At least the Finn doesn’t have to worry about his place in the team. Kubica was the second slowest of the whole group, clearly Guanyu Zhouta slower.
Mersu saw a special situation. Exercises were put aside Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion did not regret this. He was photographed in the pits smiling like a team boss Toto Wolff with. The short driving break clearly did not hinder the sport legend, who is preparing for the 300th race weekend of his career.
De Vries performed his task well. He was ninth, break up to George Russell accumulated half a second.
On Paul Ricard’s huge asphalt field, the track was typically drama-free. The fastest pace was held by the winner of the previous Austrian GP Charles Leclerc With his Ferrari. Max Verstappen nine hundredths remained.
Carlos Sainz was third. Ferrari announced in the middle of practice that they had changed the Spaniard to a new power unit for the rest of the weekend. It leads to Sunday’s race from the back of the starting grid.
Today we will run another free practice. Bottas and Hamilton are in it.