Back to the Auto Racing Newsfeed

Valtteri Bottas leads Mercedes one-two in messy opening Spanish GP practice

BARCELONA, Spain -- Valtteri Bottas dominated the opening practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix, following an incident-packed 90 minutes that saw Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull end up in the barriers at Turn 4.

After a puncture deprived Bottas of victory two laps from the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix two weeks ago, the Mercedes driver returned to action in impressive form on Friday morning at the Circuit de Catalunya. Using the soft tyre -- the second fastest of the three compounds on offer this weekend -- Bottas hooked up an impressive lap with big margins over Hamilton in sectors two and three.