Barcelona: Mercedes, with Valtteri Bottas again quicker than World Champion Lewis Hamilton, led the way in the first Spanish Grand Prix practice here Friday with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel the best of the rest.
Bottas put down an impressive marker with a best lap of one minute 18.148 seconds on soft tyres, 0.849 faster than his teammate, who won from pole last year.
Vettel, who will be chasing his fourth successive pole position Saturday, was on the quicker supersofts but 0.950 slower than the Finn around a sunny but windy Circuit de Catalunya here.
Hamilton leads the German, also a four-times World Champion, by four points after four races but owes his advantage to a healthy slice of luck.
“At the moment I am punching below my weight, and that is not sufficient to win a World Championship,” the Briton, a four times World Champion, told reporters Thursday.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fourth fastest but Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo crashed in his first track session since the two drivers collided in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 12 days ago.
Home hero Fernando Alonso started the weekend a morale-boosting sixth, behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with his McLaren displaying a heavily-revised three-pronged nose – one of several conspicuous upgrades around the pit lane.