First part of the free training
Sunny. Dry. Air +23С, highway +42С
Teams are obliged to provide a place in the car for two training sessions for ‘young’ drivers who have not driven more than two Grand Prix in their career. As the season progressed, no one wanted to do this, so they had to fulfill the duties in the final races.
In the first training there were five substitutions at the same time. At Haas, Oliver Berman took over from Kevin Magnussen, at AlphaTauri Isaac Hajjar replaced Yuki Tsunoda, at Alpine Jack Douin replaced Pierre Gasly, at Alfa Romeo Theo Pourcher replaced Valtteri Bottas and at Mercedes Frederic Vesti replaced George Russell.
Pirelli brought three ‘soft’ compounds to the podium: C3, C4 and C5, labeled Hard, Medium and Soft. In addition, the drivers received two sets of prototype C4 tires for next season.
Hajar was returning to the pits when the system that prevented the engine from stalling was activated. Pourcher had problems with the hydraulics, the brake pedal travel increased and he ended the session prematurely. Alonso spent half the session in the pits due to car problems, but was able to finish.
Otherwise the session went smoothly. Max Verstappen led the protocol and completed a lap in 1:19.718.
Results of the first session
| Pilot | Team | Time | Difference | Circles |
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:19,718 | – | 29 |
| 2. A. Elbon | Williams | 1:19,813 | +0.095 | 31 |
| 3. C. Perez | Red Bull | 1:20.015 | +0.297 | 28 |
| 4. L.Norris | McLaren | 1:20,237 | +0.519 | thirty |
| 5. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:20,297 | +0.579 | thirty |
| 6. O. Piastri | McLaren | 1:20,463 | +0.745 | 32 |
| 7. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 1:20,479 | +0.761 | 23 |
| 8. D. Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 1:20,568 | +0.850 | thirty |
| 9. E. Okon | Alps | 1:20,677 | +0.959 | 26 |
| 10. L. Walk | Aston Martin | 1:20,687 | +0.969 | 26 |
| 11. L.Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:20,724 | +1,006 | 25 |
| 12. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | 1:20,968 | +1,250 | 29 |
| 13. G.Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 1:21,129 | +1,411 | 27 |
| 14. L. Sargent | Williams | 1:21,157 | +1,439 | thirty |
| 15. O. Berman | Hare | 1:21,313 | +1,595 | 31 |
| 16. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:21,347 | +1,629 | 17 |
| 17. A.Hajar | AlphaTauri | 1:21,941 | +2,223 | 25 |
| 18. D. Douin | Alps | 1:22,109 | +2,391 | 25 |
| 19. F. Vesti | Mercedes | 1:22,937 | +3,219 | 26 |
| 20. T. Buyer | Alfa Romeo | 13:17.153 | +717.435 | 4 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
