Red Bull and Mercedes lodge complaints about track conditions as French-related teams and drivers perform well on home turf.
LE CASTELLET, France—Mercedes has been strong on this track for years, but Red Bull and Max Verstappen set the pace this year, clocking a 1:32:872 fastest lap with 30 minutes left in the second practice session in preparation for this weekend’s French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit. Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas had the quickest time earlier in the morning and took second, while partner Lewis Hamilton finished third.
The day featured clean racing except for several deviations. Mick Schumacher lightly tapped the barriers at turn three. Sebastian Vettel had the biggest accident at turn 11 when he spun backward into the barriers. Others trying to get used to the circuit early on were Carlos Sainz Jr., Kimi Raikkonen, Verstappen, and Bottas, who went off the circuit but returned to the track for additional practicing.
The biggest issue of the day involved complaints lodged by Mercedes and Red Bull. Both teams claimed that their cars were damaged by curbs that were put in turn three.
Both teams approached Michael Massi of the F.I.A., hoping that he would authorize replacing the curbs with something more respectable or nothing at all. But Massi responded by saying that those curbs were there the last time they raced, and further discussion would be necessary.
French-related teams and drivers did well on this day. The home Alpine team of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon finished fourth and sixth, respectively., Three Frenchmen–Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly, and Leclerc’s partner Sainz Jr.–finished (in order) fifth, seventh, and eighth.
The weekend expects to be warm, and, hopefully, the relatively incident-free racing will continue.
