BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Ferrari driving force Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in Formula 1 preseason testing on Thursday, as driving forces and crews weighed Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the fallout. imaginable for sport.
Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel said he would not compete at the Russian Grand Prix in September, while world champion Max Verstappen stopped just before saying he would retire. the question.
On track, Leclerc showed Ferrari’s strength by completing the fastest lap of the day with a time of 1 minute, 19. 689 moments at the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit. Pierre Gasly finished moment with AlphaTauri, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo with McLaren, a team that showed its strength from the beginning.
Ricciardo set the fastest time in the morning consultation and teammate Lando Norris led the first of the 3 days in Barcelona on Wednesday. Norris remains the fastest overall with a time of 1:19. 568.
George Russell was fourth fastest with Mercedes on Thursday, while teammate Lewis Hamilton was the slowest of the 16 drivers who arrived on track after completing a limited number of laps in the morning.
Hamilton’s career was shorter in components due to a red flag caused by Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, who saw his day particularly affected by a gearbox problem and finished seventh overall. Teammate Verstappen had no reliability issues on Wednesday and finished with the maximum number of laps among all drivers.
The consultation was also interrupted due to a problem with the fuel pump in Nikita Mazepin’s Haas, the only Russian powertrain lately on the F1 grid.
Vettel, sixth fastest with Aston Martin, said he was “surprised” by Russia’s attack on Ukraine and said the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, which he runs, will eventually communicate about it.
“We’ll see in the long run, but I think my resolution (to miss the Russian GP) is already made,” the 34-year-old German said.
Verstappen said: “When a country is at war, it’s not right to run there, that’s for sure. But it’s not just what I think, it’s the total paddock (i. e. ) that goes to what we’re going for. “do below. “
Fernando Alonso, a two-time F1 champion, said: “We can make our own decisions, but in the end I think Formula 1 will do the best it can. “
F1 team principals were making plans to meet on Thursday night to discuss the situation.
F1 said in a statement that it was “closely following the very elegant developments” but did not comment further on the cancellation of the Sochi race in September.
Rookie Zhou Guanyu, China’s first F1 driver, made his Alfa Romeo debut in the afternoon consultation and was able to run without major problems, completing the 10th fascheck. laps on Thursday morning.
Haas also experienced reliability issues on Wednesday, but stepped up at the time with Mick Schumacher at the wheel.
F1 has a new generation of cars after changes to the main rules to improve racing and make the series more competitive. The new aerodynamic and tyre requirements are ready to allow pilots to race closer to each other and create more overtaking.
___
More AP races: https://apnews. com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter. com/AP_Sports