French GP 2018

JUNE 22, 2018

Practice 1 Report - French First

Atmosphere, French GP 2018
© The Cahier Archive

By Dan Knutson

The first Free Practice session for the first French Grand Prix since 2008 and the first such event at the Paul Ricard circuit since 1990 ended with Lewis Hamilton at the top of the lap times. Hamilton, incidentally, competed in the previous final two editions of the French Grand Prix but never led a lap in either race.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes – Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull TAG Heuer – Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen; Force India Mercedes – Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon; Williams Mercedes –Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin; Renault – Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz; Toro Rosso Honda – Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly; Haas Ferrari – Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; McLaren Renault – Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Sauber Ferrari – Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc.

One of the drivers who was raring to get out on the 3.360-mile (5.842 km) 15-turn Paul Ricard circuit was France's Gasly.

"I can tell it will be a special feeling going out on track," he said. "I have spoken to Jean Alesi and Alain Prost about it and they both told me that it will feel really special and something that you really have to experience as a Frenchman racing in France. I can't wait to get to Le Castellet. I won't feel under any pressure; on the contrary I think it will feel like extra support for me. It's a very good thing for all fans of motor sport in our country."

Ericsson, Magnussen and Vandoorne – a Swede, a Dane and a Belgian – were the first out in FP1.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 111 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees Centigrade).

Pirelli's slick compounds for the weekend were the soft, super soft and ultra soft.

Bottas ran a time of 1:35.797 on the ultras to set the early benchmark.

Gasly's teammate Hartley had the first spin, looping off into the blue-painted stripes at Turn 6.

"Big oversteer," he radioed. "I was a bit surprised how I lost the front end."

Ricciardo used the softs to get down to a 1:34.956, and then a 1:33.691 followed by a 1:34.495.

This, of course, was not a session about lap times but rather correlating the first on-track data with that of all the predictive work done in the simulators and on the computers.

Hamilton had to take to the curbs to avoid a slow-running Vandoorne.

"Dangerously slow!" Hamilton radioed.

Gusty tail winds were making things tricky, and Raikkonen spun at Turn 6.

But Ricciardo was doing just fine as he lowered his time to a 1:32.576 just past the half-hour mark. Teammate Verstappen was stuck in the garages as the mechanics worked on his car.

The top 10 at the 40-minute break, when the drivers each have to hand back one set of tires, were: Ricciardo, Bottas, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Ocon, Alonso, Gasly, Perez, Sainz and Vettel.

Gasly, whose radio wasn't working, stayed out for 42 minutes, so a penalty could be awaiting him or the team later.

As things got rolling again, Bottas on new ultra soft Pirellis, got within 0.030 of a second of Ricciardo.

One hour into FP1 the top six were: Ricciardo, Bottas, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Grosjean and Ocon. Moments later Bottas took the lead after lapping in 1:32.566.

Then Hamilton got down to a 1:32.231 on the ultras. Verstappen was now on track and up to sixth.

Bottas improved to get within 0.140 of a second of his teammate. Ricciardo, now on the ultra softs, was third and 0.296 of a second of Hamilton with 15 minutes to go. Raikkonen, Vettel and Grosjean, also on the ultras, rounded out the top six at this stage.

Drama with three minutes to go: Ericsson crashed heavily at Turn 12 and his car caught fire. That brought out the red flags and ended the session.

The top 10 at the end of the first FP1 were: Hamilton, Bottas, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Vettel, Grosjean, Verstappen, Gasly, Perez and Magnussen.