Leclerc commands in the first free practice sessions in France ahead of Verstappen and Sainz

   MADRID, 22 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was the fastest in the first free practice session of the Formula 1 French Grand Prix, which takes place at the Circuit Paul Ricard, ahead of the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), second and third, respectively, while Fernando Alonso could only do the fifteenth fastest time.

With the heat as one of the protagonists with temperatures above 35 degrees -which leads to greater degradation-, the Monegasque driver, who tested a new flat bottom on his single-seater, was the fastest in this first free practice session with a time of 1:33.930, 91 thousandths better than Verstappen, and with Sainz closing the podium three tenths.

Thus, the Italian team would maintain those good feelings that began at Silverstone, where the Spanish driver achieved his first and historic victory, and Austria, with the triumph of the Monegasque, slowing down the great dynamics of Red Bull, who already managed to win at the Paul Ricard last season and now he will have to improve to maintain his advantage in the World Cup.

With Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) watching the session from the box, as the Dutchman Nyck de Vries -ninth-, Formula 2 champion in 2019, got into the Briton's car for this first round, George Russel defended Mercedes' options and He was fourth, almost a second off the fastest time (1:34.881). The English team is one of the teams with the most news for this French GP, along with Alpha Tauri.

Thus, in the Italian team, the local driver Pierre Gasly -he has not scored since the Azerbaijan GP- agreed with those improvements implemented to make a 1:34.979 to complete the top 5, with Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), sixth, already more than a minute behind Leclerc.

In this first free practice session, Alpine, who was running at 'home', was not up to the task and completed a rather cold session, despite the novelties presented by the cars of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard could only manage 1:35.875, while the French driver completed the thirteenth time (1:35.828). Another of the novelties of the session was starred by Robert Kubica, who replaced Valtteri Bottas in Alfa Romeo and was penultimate.