Valtteri Bottas tops Tuscan Grand Prix practice as Lando Norris crashes
Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Valtteri Bottas headed Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Friday practice at the Tuscan Grand Prix as Lando Norris crashed his McLaren.
Norris put a wheel in the gravel on the exit of Turn Three, Poggio Secco, and spun into the wall. He was unhurt but the incident ended his session.
Bottas was 0.207 seconds ahead of Hamilton in second practice and was ahead in both Friday sessions.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen was third fastest, 0.039secs behind Bottas.
Norris' incident led to one red-flag period, and there was a second for a collision between Racing Point's Sergio Perez and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen.
Perez was coming out of the pits and did not see Raikkonen on a flying lap on his outside, and as the Finn turned into the first corner his right rear wheel clipped the front right of Perez's car.
Perez and the team have been summoned to the stewards to discuss the incident.
It was a difficult day for Ferrari, celebrating their 1,000th Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc had a spin early in second practice at Turn 12 and ended up 10th fastest, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel was 12th fastest and ground to a halt out on track at the end of the session with an engine problem.
The Ferraris are painted in a darker shade of red, mirroring the colour used by Ferrari's first F1 car in 1950.
After Red Bull's surprisingly uncompetitive performance a week ago in Monza, the competitive order was more as expected at Mugello, which is hosting F1 for the first time.
Verstappen's team-mate Alex Albon was fourth quickest, albeit more than 0.7secs slower than the Dutchman, and ahead of the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon, Perez and the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly, who won took his maiden F1 victory at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend.
Mugello lived up to its a reputation as a fast and challenging track full of demanding corners. The drivers were taking the famous Arrabbiata right-handers flat out at more than 170mph on their qualifying simulation runs in second practice and it seems as if the fast left-right preceding them may also be flat come qualifying.
For the first time in this coronavirus-affected season, spectators are being allowed into the grandstands. Mugello has sold 2,800 tickets for each day.
