F1: Bottas leads Mercedes one-two in first US GP practice – Gulf Digital News

F1: Bottas leads Mercedes one-two in first US GP practice – Gulf Digital News

Valtteri Bottas led title-chasing team mate Lewis Hamilton in a dominant Mercedes one-two in first US Grand Prix practice on Friday with Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen third but nearly a second off the pace.

Bottas, who will have a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's race after an engine change, won the previous race in Turkey from pole position and carried the momentum to the Circuit of the Americas.

The Finn's best lap of one minute 34.874 seconds, on a warm and clear day, was a mere 0.045 quicker than Hamilton, who is six points behind Dutch rival Verstappen with six races remaining.

Verstappen, on the same soft tyres as the Mercedes pair, was 0.932 slower than Bottas.

Mercedes are favourites to win in Texas after taking pole for the last six races there. Hamilton has won five of the eight since 2012, with last year's round cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly sixth and Verstappen's Mexican team mate Sergio Perez seventh.

McLaren's Lando Norris was eighth fastest.

The session was stopped after three minutes when Fernando Alonso stopped on track. The team said the Spaniard, who returned later, had done