2021 French GP, Ferrari first practice report: Charles P11, Carlos P16

2021 French GP, Ferrari first practice report: Charles P11, Carlos P16. Ferrari first practice report.

Formula 1 embarks on its first triple-header of 2021 as the Paul Ricard Circuit plays host to this weekend’s French Grand Prix. Originally scheduled for next weekend, the French GP was moved a week earlier following the cancellation of the Turkish Grand Prix.

It’s Valtteri Bottas who takes P1 honours by 0.3s with a best time of 1:33.448 from Lewis Hamilton, in the first free practice session at the Paul Ricard circuit. Championship leader Max Verstappen is third with his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez fourth quickest.

Ferrari was always in the top of the rankings during the practice sessions for the previous two Grands Prix (in Monte Carlo and Baku), but as we return to a permanent racetrack, it was expected that the Maranello team would encounter more difficulties. And the first free practice session at the Paul Ricard circuit confirmed that there is still a lot of work for Ferrari to be able to recover until the qualifying session on Saturday.

Charles Leclerc finished outside the top ten, in P11, with a personal best lap time of 1m34.950s, which was almost 1.6 seconds off the best lap time of Valtteri Bottas in FP1. A difficult session also for Carlos Sainz, as the Spanish driver finished in P16, ahead of only Nicholas Latifi, Nikita Mazepin, Mick Schumacher and Roy Nissany. Carlos also had a moment through the super-abrasive red runoff area.