2020 F1 Portuguese GP Friday practice results
Valtteri Bottas topped a dramatic opening day of Portuguese Grand Prix practice at Algarve International Circuit on Friday, which included a fire for Pierre Gasly, and Max Verstappen clashing with Lance Stroll at high speed.
In the first practice session, Bottas was over three tenths of a second clear of Hamilton, the Mercedes duo having a further four tenths advantage over Red Bull’s Verstappen, who suffered an early spin.
Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest for Ferrari, just lapping quicker than the second Red Bull of Alexander Albon and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz. Racing Point’s Sergio Perez was seventh fastest, ahead of an impressive Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo). Sixty-five laptimes were deleted in this session due to track limits infringements.
In FP2, the first 30 minutes was used as a Pirelli tyre test, all using a 2021 prototype hard compound. Sainz suffered an early spin, as did Perez, while Haas's Romain Grosjean took a trip through the gravel.
Bottas set the benchmark on the soft tyres at 1m17.940s, just before a red flag when Gasly’s AlphaTauri burst into flames at Turn 13. He jumped out unharmed.
After the session restarted, with a lot of cars immediately going out on track, Verstappen and Stroll collided at the 180mph Turn 1 – sending Stroll, who was going for a second fast lap, spinning into the gravel. That caused a second red flag.
Bottas stayed on top, half a second clear of Verstappen, with McLaren’s Lando Norris jumping up to third in the closing seconds. Leclerc was fourth, ahead of Sainz – another late improver – and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Gasly was seventh, ahead of Hamilton – who didn’t get a decent soft-tyre run.
F1 Portuguese Grand Prix Free Practice 1 results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Valtteri Bottas |  | Mercedes | Mercedes | 35 | 1'18.410 | 215.054 | ||
| 2 |  Lewis Hamilton |  | Mercedes | Mercedes | 35 | 1'18.749 | 0.339 | 0.339 | 214.128 |
| 3 |  Max Verstappen |  | Red Bull | Honda | 32 | 1'19.191 | 0.781 | 0.442 | 212.933 |
| 4 |  Charles Leclerc |  | Ferrari | Ferrari | 33 | 1'19.309 | 0.899 | 0.118 | 212.616 |
| 5 |  Alex Albon |  | Red Bull | Honda | 34 | 1'19.365 | 0.955 | 0.056 | 212.466 |
| 6 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |  | McLaren | Renault | 42 | 1'19.441 | 1.031 | 0.076 | 212.263 |
| 7 |  Sergio Perez |  | Racing Point | Mercedes | 31 | 1'19.907 | 1.497 | 0.466 | 211.025 |
| 8 | Kimi Raikkonen |  | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 34 | 1'19.954 | 1.544 | 0.047 | 210.901 |
| 9 |  Daniel Ricciardo |  | Renault | Renault | 27 | 1'20.058 | 1.648 | 0.104 | 210.627 |
| 10 |  Pierre Gasly |  | AlphaTauri | Honda | 29 | 1'20.124 | 1.714 | 0.066 | 210.453 |
| 11 |  Sebastian Vettel |  | Ferrari | Ferrari | 37 | 1'20.200 | 1.790 | 0.076 | 210.254 |
| 12 | Lando Norris |  | McLaren | Renault | 29 | 1'20.207 | 1.797 | 0.007 | 210.236 |
| 13 |  Daniil Kvyat |  | AlphaTauri | Honda | 32 | 1'20.278 | 1.868 | 0.071 | 210.050 |
| 14 |  Kevin Magnussen |  | Haas | Ferrari | 28 | 1'20.846 | 2.436 | 0.568 | 208.574 |
| 15 |  Lance Stroll |  | Racing Point | Mercedes | 32 | 1'20.954 | 2.544 | 0.108 | 208.296 |
| 16 |  Antonio Giovinazzi |  | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 35 | 1'21.009 | 2.599 | 0.055 | 208.154 |
| 17 | Romain Grosjean |  | Haas | Ferrari | 31 | 1'21.169 | 2.759 | 0.160 | 207.744 |
| 18 | George Russell |  | Williams | Mercedes | 31 | 1'21.374 | 2.964 | 0.205 | 207.220 |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon |  | Renault | Renault | 31 | 1'21.673 | 3.263 | 0.299 | 206.462 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi |  | Williams | Mercedes | 34 | 1'22.054 | 3.644 | 0.381 | 205.503 |
| View full results | |||||||||
F1 Portuguese Grand Prix Free Practice 2 results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | | Mercedes | Mercedes | 32 | 1'17.940 | 216.351 | ||
| 2 | Max Verstappen |  | Red Bull | Honda | 34 | 1'18.535 | 0.595 | 0.595 | 214.711 |
| 3 | Lando Norris |  | McLaren | Renault | 35 | 1'18.743 | 0.803 | 0.208 | 214.144 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | | Ferrari | Ferrari | 34 | 1'18.838 | 0.898 | 0.095 | 213.886 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz Jr. |  | McLaren | Renault | 32 | 1'19.113 | 1.173 | 0.275 | 213.143 |
| 6 | Sebastian Vettel | | Ferrari | Ferrari | 34 | 1'19.175 | 1.235 | 0.062 | 212.976 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly |  | AlphaTauri | Honda | 26 | 1'19.178 | 1.238 | 0.003 | 212.968 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton |  | Mercedes | Mercedes | 27 | 1'19.308 | 1.368 | 0.130 | 212.619 |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon |  | Renault | Renault | 32 | 1'19.496 | 1.556 | 0.188 | 212.116 |
| 10 | Alex Albon |  | Red Bull | Honda | 37 | 1'19.643 | 1.703 | 0.147 | 211.724 |
| 11 | George Russell | | Williams | Mercedes | 33 | 1'19.821 | 1.881 | 0.178 | 211.252 |
| 12 | Sergio Perez |  | Racing Point | Mercedes | 34 | 1'19.901 | 1.961 | 0.080 | 211.041 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo |  | Renault | Renault | 28 | 1'19.987 | 2.047 | 0.086 | 210.814 |
| 14 | Nicholas Latifi | | Williams | Mercedes | 33 | 1'20.465 | 2.525 | 0.478 | 209.561 |
| 15 | Kimi Raikkonen |  | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 34 | 1'20.490 | 2.550 | 0.025 | 209.496 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen |  | Haas | Ferrari | 29 | 1'20.680 | 2.740 | 0.190 | 209.003 |
| 17 | Daniil Kvyat | | AlphaTauri | Honda | 33 | 1'20.729 | 2.789 | 0.049 | 208.876 |
| 18 | Romain Grosjean |  | Haas | Ferrari | 32 | 1'20.867 | 2.927 | 0.138 | 208.520 |
| 19 | Lance Stroll |  | Racing Point | Mercedes | 26 | 1'20.983 | 3.043 | 0.116 | 208.221 |
| 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | | Alfa Romeo | Ferrari | 34 | 1'21.396 | 3.456 | 0.413 | 207.164 |
| View full results | |||||||||
F1 Portuguese Grand Prix Free Practice as it happened
Related video
LGBTQ+ movement criticises appointment of Petrov as F1 steward
Portuguese GP: Bottas tops FP2 as Verstappen, Stroll clash
Spanish Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2022
In an unusually hectic Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc was denied a dominant performance by his Ferrari engine letting go which allowed Max Verstappen to pick up the pieces. But numerous flashpoints kept the race twisting and turning throughout, with one perfect score from an emerging contender
How Verstappen overcame his and Red Bull’s errors to win in Spain
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari engine disaster offered an open goal for Max Verstappen and Red Bull to strike, but the reigning Formula 1 world champion still had to solve multiple errors and profit from a begrudged assist from team-mate Sergio Perez, which created an unexpectedly eventful Spanish Grand Prix
Why Red Bull can win a Spanish GP that looked perfect for Ferrari
Formula 1's return to Spain on Friday ended with Ferrari leading the way from Mercedes, while Red Bull could only manage third fastest overall courtesy of Max Verstappen. But its chances of victory are far from remote with a deeper dig into the times despite Ferrari's strong start...
The key aspects of Porsche and Audi's planned F1 entries
The VW Group’s German superpowers of sportscar racing have all but confirmed they are coming to F1 when the next set of engine rules come into force in 2026. Here's why both manufacturers are all set to take the plunge, and crucially how it might work
How Vegas went from byword for F1 indifference to grand Liberty coup
Holding a race in Las Vegas – party central, a city of dreams and decadence and, yes, more than a smattering of tackiness – has been on Liberty Media’s most-wanted list since it acquired Formula 1’s commercial rights. But, as LUKE SMITH explains, F1 has been here before and the relationship didn’t work out
Why de Vries' FP1 outing could add a new path to his current crossroads
A Formula 2 and Formula E champion, Nyck de Vries is currently considering where his future in motorsport lies. Continuing in WEC and Formula E is possible and he's also courted glances Stateside after impressing in an IndyCar test. But ahead of his Formula 1 FP1 debut with Williams, he could have another option if he impresses...
Why Leclerc's crash shouldn't put off F1 drivers tasting history
OPINION: For a demo run ahead of Monaco's Historique Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc was blessed with the opportunity to drive Niki Lauda's former Ferrari 312B3 - but a brake failure at Rascasse suggested Leclerc's Monaco hoodoo transcended contemporary F1. Although an awkward incident, Leclerc deserves credit for embracing F1's history.
Why the lack of "needle" between Red Bull and Ferrari is a mirage
OPINION: The fight for the 2022 Formula 1 world titles between Red Bull and Ferrari so far features little of the public animosity that developed between the former and Mercedes last year. But that isn’t to say things are full on friendly or won’t get much worse very quickly…