F1: Bottas leads Mercedes 1-2 in opening USGP Practice

Valtteri Bottas, using his 6th, more powerful Mercedes engine, turned the fastest lap in opening practice for the USGP at COTA.

Bottas’ lap of 1m34.874s was just 0.045s ahead of his Mercedes F1 teammate Lewis Hamilton, both on soft tires.

Everyone else was out to lunch.

Max Verstappen was 3rd quick, a massive 0.932s behind in his Red Bull Honda.

The two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top-5, 1.460s and 1.634s behind respectively on medium tires.

The session ended just as Sergio Perez and Mick Schumacher had an on-track misunderstanding that saw Schumacher spin off.

Replays show that Perez thought Schumacher was letting him through and tried to dive down the inside, only for the German to turn in and the two to make contact.
Moments later, Raikkonen spun and ended the session with his Alfa parked sideways across the track.

Practice 1 Results

POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME BEHIND
1 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG 1m34.874s +0.000s
2 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG 1m34.919s +0.045
3 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m35.806s +0.932
4 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m36.334s +1.460
5 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m36.508s +1.634
6 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m36.611s +1.737
7 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m36.798s +1.924
8 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m36.855s +1.981
9 Antonio Giovinazzi GBR Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m36.874s +2.000
10 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m36.876s +2.002
11 George Russell ISR Williams Racing 1m36.966s +2.092
12 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m36.970s +2.096
13 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant 1m36.972s +2.098
14 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant 1m36.982s +2.108
15 Fernando Alonso CHI Alpine F1 Team 1m37.068s +2.194
16 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m37.458s +2.584
17 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m37.463s +2.589
18 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m37.954s +3.080
19 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m38.866s +3.992
20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m42.239s +7.365