Hamilton on top as Ericsson crashes and car catches fire

Lewis Hamilton led Valtteri Bottas in the opening practice for the French Grand Prix which ended in dramatic fashion as Marcus Ericsson crashed out and his car caught fire.

Formula One is back in France for the first time in a decade, and the first time at the Paul Ricard circuit since 1990.

And while Hamilton, armed with a new Mercedes engine, posted a best lap of one minute and 32.231 seconds to lead the way, it was Ericsson’s late shunt which brought a stunning end to the running.

Swedish driver Ericsson lost control at the left-handed 100mph Turn 12, sliding down the long run-off area before hitting the tyre barrier.

His Sauber then started billowing flames from the rear.

Ericsson, who could not see the inferno behind him, remained in the car.

His team had to alert him to the danger over the radio as marshals ran over with fire extinguishers and he hastily leapt out of the car.

The session was immediately redflagged, and Ericsson, 27, emerged unscathed from his charred Sauber.

It marked the first time an F1 car has been on fire since the halo, the controversial cockpit safety device which sits above the driver, was introduced at the start of the year.

Bottas trailed his team-mate Hamilton by just 0.140 seconds while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third.

Sebastian Vettel, who crushed the opposition en route to winning in Canada a fortnight ago, had to settle for fifth, nearly a full second down on Hamilton, with Kimi Raikkonen one place better off.

While Hamilton will have a fresh engine, his Mercedes team are to clarify whether it is their latest specification power unit which will be introduced.

Failure to do so will leave the Brit at a disadvantage with both Ferrari and Red Bull, who are powered by Renault, already on their second-generation engines.

McLaren are enduring an agonising season, and they have shown no improvement here.

Fernando Alonso, who completed the second leg in his pursuit of motor racing’s Triple Crown with victory at Le Mans last weekend, was a lowly 16th in the order, some 2.6 seconds off the pace.

His team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne was last but one of the 20 runners.

Picture: AP. Lewis Hamilton on the race track during yesterday’s practice.