Hamilton tops charts in practice
GETTY IMAGES LEWIS Hamilton was fastest in yesterday’s two practice sessions for the French Grand Prix, while his top rival struggled to figure out an unfamiliar track as Formula One returned to the country for the first time in a decade.
Sebastian Vettel, who leads Mercedes driver Hamilton by one point after seven of 21 races this year, had trouble adapting to the Paul Ricard Circuit and was fifth fastest in the morning and in the afternoon.
The track, situated in wooded hills just inland from the Cote d’Azur, was subject to gusting winds.
‘‘The car is quick but I wasn’t able to be quick with the car today, it’s as simple as that,’’ Vettel said. ‘‘I think it is a tricky track, not easy to get in a good ride start to finish. Over the long run I was able to play a little more and find some [driving] lines. Let’s see if we can start from there tomorrow.’’
There will be another practice session today before qualifying for tomorrow’s race.
Hamilton benefited from an engine upgrade that Mercedes failed to roll out in the last round when the British driver lost his lead to Vettel.
‘‘It’s always a challenge when you come to a new circuit, but you’re constantly learning new things and I love the challenge of trying to get into the swing of it before everyone else,’’ Hamilton said.
Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas registered the second best time of the day before a water leak kept him in the garage for the final minutes.
The morning session ended with a scare for Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson after his car burst into flames when he spun out of control and slammed into a barrier. The Swedish driver was unharmed.
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso), Esteban Ocon (Force India) and Vandoorne all spun onto the blue-striped run-off areas at Turn Six but stopped before hitting the barrier.
Charles Leclerc twice spun to a brief stop, while Max Verstappen drove his Red Bull wide on consecutive corners and Kevin Magnussen had a near miss with Sergio Perez. – AP