French GP 2019

JUNE 21, 2019

Practice 1 Report - Softly graining

Lewis Hamilton
© The Cahier Archive

By Dan Knutson

Many of the drivers complained about the lack of grip and graining tires, especially using Pirelli's soft compound slicks, on the green track during Free Practice 1 for the French Grand Prix. But the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas seemed immune to those woes as they posted the fastest lap times in the session.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes – Hamilton and Bottas; Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc; Red Bull TAG Heuer –Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly; Renault – Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg; Haas Ferrari – Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; McLaren Renault – Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris; Racing Point Mercedes – Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll; Alfa Romeo Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi; Toro Rosso Honda – Daniil Kvyat and Alexander Albon; Williams Mercedes – George Russell and Robert Kubica.

Nicholas Latifi drove Russell's Williams in FP1.

Giovinazzi was the first out on the 3.360-mile (5.842 km) 15-turn Paul Ricard circuit. Sainz turned the first flying lap at 1:39.095.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Centigrade).

This was Albon's first time driving at Paul Ricard in a F1 car, but it wasn't his first time racing on the French circuit also called Le Castellet.

"Ricard is actually a track I know fairly well, as I raced there quite a bit in the junior formulas, making it one of the circuits where I have driven the most," said the British-Thai driver. "It features on the calendars for lots of categories. It's a very modern facility with big run-off areas and colored stripes, where the paint man went a bit crazy!"

Leclerc got things down to a 1:35.822 ten minutes into the session. He was using the old version of the Ferrari front wing while newlywed Vettel tried the new one. The Ferraris were the only cars out on the track as the team did a comparison test of both wings.

Ten minutes later Sainz trimmed 0.07 of a second off Leclerc's best.

Hamilton and Bottas had yet to do a flying lap as the half-hour point approached. When Bottas finally got going, he popped to the top with a time of 1:34.695 on the medium compound Pirelli slicks. He then improved to 1:34.500.

The top 10 at the 40-minute break were: Bottas, Verstappen (0.095 of a second slower), Hamilton, Norris, Gasly, Sainz, Ricciardo, Perez, Leclerc and Vettel.

There was a long lull while the crews worked on the cars. With about 40 minutes remaining the on-track action resumed.

Gasly, with the updated Honda engine in his Toro Rosso, used the soft compound Pirellis to post a 1:34.271. Norris beat that with his 1:34.110.

Hamilton, also on the softs, went 0.004 of a second quicker with 30 minutes remining. Bottas, on softs, then turned a 1:33.779. Hamilton responded with a 1:33.272.

The order was Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Gasly, Norris, Ricciardo, Sainz, Perez, Hulkenberg and Albon with 20 minutes to go.

Verstappen then had a spin at Turn 8 while Bottas set a 1:33.173. Then Hamilton broke below the 1:33 barrier as he got down to a 1:32.738.

Leclerc had been down in 15th, but Leclerc then jumped up to third, 0.373 slower than Hamilton with 15 minutes left in FP1.

Vettel, using the new wing, said something didn't "feel right at the front" and was in 12th. But he then improved to fifth, albeit a second off of the time Hamilton turned. Vettel then pitted to have the old front wing fitted.

Gasly spun at Turn 4.

The top 10 at the end of the graining session were: Hamilton, Bottas, Leclerc, Verstappen, Vettel, Gasly, Norris, Sainz, Ricciardo and Albon.