Brazil – Free Practice 1: Hamilton and Mercedes Maintain the Pressure
Lewis Hamilton sets a new lap record at the Interlagos circuit. He leads his teammate Valtteri Bottas and the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen. Sebastian Vettel is only 6th ahead of a surprising Felipe Massa in his Williams, who begins his farewell tour in front of his home crowd.
It is under a radiant sun and warm temperatures that the Brazilian weekend begins. Although the drivers’ and constructors’ championship titles are already decided, the penultimate race of the season is no less interesting to follow.
Mercedes and Ferrari will take advantage of the Interlagos and Abu Dhabi tracks to start their 2018 program and test some new features. With the fourth place in the championship secured by Force India, the battle for fifth will rage on Sunday between Williams, Renault, and Toro Rosso.
But the small Italian team is already having a bad start to its weekend. After just a quarter of an hour into the session, Brandon Hartley has to stop his car at the entrance of the pit lane, with the engine on fire! The Renault engine block demonstrated its reliability limits during the race in Mexico and the situation doesn’t seem to be improving…
Engine failure for Hartley in the Toro Rosso as the Renault pops in #FP1.
Some nervous shifting in the seats on the McLaren pit wall as they look towards 2018… #F1PP pic.twitter.com/57bEtXDVkF
— F1 Paddock Pass (@F1PaddockPass) 10 novembre 2017
Some drivers have already taken on the stopwatch, and the provisional best time is credited to Valtteri Bottas with 1:10.102. As the track is very short and very fast, lap times will approach the one-minute mark this weekend!
Note that Charles Leclerc is participating in the session in Pascal Wehrlein’s Sauber and that George Russell, recent winner of the GP3 championship and backed by Mercedes, is making his big debut in the discipline at the wheel of Sergio Pérez’s Force India.
Thursday at Interlagos ✅ Mega excited for FP1 tomorrow!!#BrazilGP 🇧🇷 @ForceIndiaF1 pic.twitter.com/OipiRW6gd7
— George Russell (@GeorgeRussell63) 9 novembre 2017
Sebastian Vettel makes a slight mistake in the most winding part of the circuit and spins. The Ferrari driver is still credited with the 3rd fastest time at 1:10.321, behind the two Mercedes. Hamilton takes the best time from his teammate by also breaking the track record at 1:09.672. The Briton also made his mistake on the following lap by braking too late at the entry of the Senna S, shortcutting the first corner before setting the bar even higher at 1:09.606.
For his last Formula 1 Grand Prix in front of his home crowd, Felipe Massa wants to put on a show. The Williams driver puts on the Super Soft red tires and clocks an excellent 3rd fastest time with 1:10.297. However, lap times keep improving as the track gains endurance, and by mid-session, Valtteri Bottas holds the best time with 1:09.329. He is ahead of Hamilton, Massa, Vettel, the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, Stoffel Vandoorne in his McLaren, the other Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen, and Fernando Alonso, who closes the Top 10 with his McLaren.
In the second part of the session, things accelerate. Hamilton takes back his lead with a time of 1.09.202, Räikkönen climbs to 3rd place ahead of Verstappen and Vettel, who goes wide once again in Senna’s S. Alonso secures the 8th place just ahead of his teammate. A bit further back, the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Russell are in 11th and 14th spots. On the French side, Romain Grosjean places his Haas in 12th position and Pierre Gasly painfully closes the standings in 19th place ahead of his teammate. Technical issues do not spare the Toro Rosso drivers this Friday.
Believing he might already be in the race, Nico Hülkenberg attempts an overtake in the last corner on Hamilton’s Mercedes. A bit too optimistic on his exit from the corner, the Renault driver forces the Briton to drive onto the grass, though without serious consequences.
“That was very dangerous of Hülkenberg,” says Hamilton
SSF1: https://t.co/BNikV8W5jq
Blog: https://t.co/W4Jk8Z66xd #SkyF1 #BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/9iI8RZ7KG0— Sky Sports F1 🏎 (@SkySportsF1) 10 novembre 2017
Apart from Vandoorne improving his time and moving up to 7th place, ahead of Alonso, and Ocon climbing to 9th place, the other lap times remain unchanged, and Lewis Hamilton concludes this first practice session with a new track record!
The full FP1 standings:
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP1): A successful morning for @MercedesAMGF1 #BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #FP1 pic.twitter.com/jjzGfH2gPp
— Formula 1 (@F1) 10 novembre 2017
