MotorMouth – Valtteri Bottas sets the pace in first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix… but his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton can only manage 18th as F1 returns to the track after summer break

27.08.21

Valtteri Bottas sets the pace in first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix… but his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton can only manage 18th as F1 returns to the track after summer break

Valtteri Bottas set the pace for Mercedes ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Friday’s opening Formula One practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Finn lapped the sylvan sweeps of the seven km Spa-Francorchamps track in one minute 45.199 seconds to edge Verstappen by 0.164 seconds. That paved the way for AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly to slot into third ahead of Ferrari’s 2019 Belgian race winner Charles Leclerc. The session began under overcast skies with the track damp in places but quickly drying out. Verstappen, hoping to revive his title challenge after seeing his 33-point lead evaporate in two races, set the initial pace ahead of team mate Perez on the hard tyre.

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