The Finn Mercedes driver dropped five places before the start of the US Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver will get a new internal combustion engine for the Austin race, which is already his sixth edition of the season.
Incidentally, Bottas isn’t the only driver who replaced engine parts in Austin. For example, Sebastian Vettel and George Russell are looking for a completely new power source, which means they will be completely behind on Sunday evening. Bottas adheres to the new ICE internal combustion engine and the new exhaust system, for which he will not receive an additional penalty on the grid.
Early in the first free practice session, which began at 11:30 a.m. local time in hot Texas, Fernando Alonso was already having problems. As a result, there was a red gust for ten minutes, but then it was time to switch between the Mercedes and Verstappen drivers. Bottas eventually set the fastest time, but the differences are still very small.
Bottas set the fastest Circuit of the Americas time with a lap time of 1 minute 34.874 seconds. His Mercedes teammate Hamilton was just 0.045sec slower, Verstappen was 0.932sec slower than the Finn.
Friday October 22
Free First Practice (VT1): 6.30pm – 7.30pm
Second Free Training (VT2): 10 PM – 11 PM
Saturday 23 October
Third Free Practice (VT3): 20:00 – 21:00
Qualification: 11pm – 12am
Sunday October 24
US Grand Prix: 9pm
