Mugello, FP1: Bottas quickest ahead of Verstappen

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas set the pace of the opening practice session for the FIA Formula 1 Tuscan Grand Prix as drivers got their first taste of the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello.

Bottas, using soft tyres, finished just under five hundredths of a second ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finishing a surprise third at the start of a weekend of celebrations to mark the Scuderia’s 1000th Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Bottas’ time of 1:17.879s also established a new track record at the circuit near Florence. The previous unofficial benchmark of 1:18.704, set in 2004 by Rubens Barrichello in a Ferrari, stemmed from Mugello’s time as a regular test venue in the first decade of this century.

Fourth place in the session went to championship leader Lewis Hamilton who eased into the weekend at the high-speed circuit with a best lap of 1:18.409 to sit almost half a second off his team-mate.

Fifth place was taken by F1’s newest race winner, Pierre Gasly. Fresh from victory at Monza last weekend, the AlphaTauri ended the session a little under four tenths of a second back from Hamilton.

Gasly was separated from team-mate Daniil Kvyat by Renault’s Esteban Ocon who opened his Mugello weekend with a best time of 1:18.805, three tenths clear of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo who finished in tenth position.

With Kvyat seventh, eighth place went to McLaren’s Lando Norris with Alex Albon ninth in the second Red Bull.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was yesterday announced as an Aston Martin driver for next year, began his weekend with 13th, 1.388s behind Bottas and a full second behind team-mate Leclerc.

Elsewhere, there was trouble for Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, who was forced to sit out the opening phase of the session as his team fixed an issue with a master cylinder on his car.