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Valtteri Bottas was fastest in the first Formula 1 practice session of the weekend at Portimao, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in second.
Key moments:
> Verstappen complains of severe vibrations aboard his Red Bull
> Hamilton unhappy with balance in his Mercedes
> Russell seventh fastest for Williams
> Ilott 17th-quickest in first FP1
Bottas topped FP1 for the second consecutive round with a 1m19.648s ahead of F1’s second-ever grand prix at the Portuguese circuit.
Verstappen was just 0.025 seconds slower than Bottas in second place despite complaining of vibration issues aboard his Red Bull in the closing stages of the session.
Bottas’ team-mate Hamilton wasn’t happy with his car balance either, labelling the Mercedes “undriveable” after his first practice run.
Set-up changes were made to Hamilton’s car and he ended up 0.319s off his team-mate in fifth place.
Sergio Perez sat in the garage for the first third of the session but he still managed to go third-quickest for Red Bull, within two tenths of his team-mate Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc rounded out the top four for Ferrari – the same position he finished last year’s Portuguese GP in.
Want a look at the FP1 results… but as a graphic? Of course you do, you're only human.
From @f1visualized, as always! #PortugueseGP | #F1 pic.twitter.com/4RGFqc3vLh
— The Race (@wearetherace) April 30, 2021
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was sixth-quickest behind Hamilton, while George Russell was an impressive seventh-fastest for Williams.
The top 10 was completed by McLaren’s Lando Norris, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
Callum Ilott was 17th-fastest on his FP1 debut – having previously been set to drive for Haas in Nurburgring’s opening practice session last year before it was cancelled due to poor weather.
F2 2020 runner-up Ilott was 0.425s slower than his Alfa Romeo team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
Haas drivers Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher almost came together at Turn 1, with Mazepin unaware that his team-mate was going for a second consecutive flying lap. Schumacher was 18th-fastest, while Mazepin was slowest of all.
Practice 1 Results
Pos | Name | Car | Best Time | Gap Leader |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1m19.648s | |
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1m19.673s | +0.025s |
3 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull-Honda | 1m19.846s | +0.198s |
4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m19.884s | +0.236s |
5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m19.967s | +0.319s |
6 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1m20.444s | +0.796s |
7 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1m20.529s | +0.881s |
8 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m20.635s | +0.987s |
9 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m20.68s | +1.032s |
10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1m20.8s | +1.152s |
11 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1m20.894s | +1.246s |
12 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m20.995s | +1.347s |
13 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1m21.09s | +1.442s |
14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1m21.303s | +1.655s |
15 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1m21.381s | +1.733s |
16 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1m21.405s | +1.757s |
17 | Callum Ilott | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1m21.806s | +2.158s |
18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1m21.939s | +2.291s |
19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1m22.293s | +2.645s |
20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas-Ferrari | 1m24.224s | +4.576s |