Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Bottas leads first GP3 practice

GP3 newcomer Valtteri Bottas set the pace in the first free practice session of the weekend at Istanbul Park

The early morning session took place in wet and windy conditions. Despite light rain continuing to fall throughout the 30 minutes, laptimes fell in the closing stages as the drivers settled in on the wet track.

ART driver Bottas had snatched top spot from early pacesetter Rio Haryanto (Manor) during the middle of the session, but as times improved fellow rookie Gabby Chaves (Addax) briefly stole first place in the final five minutes.

But Bottas went back to the head of the timesheets by a comfortable margin in the closing seconds as he clearly began to push the limits of the car.

The RSC Mucke Motorsport pairing of Nigel Melker and Luciano Bacheta also pipped Chaves at the end, while Mitch Evans completed the top five.

Haryanto ended the session seventh, sandwiched between Britons James Calado and Dean Smith. The latter's running came to a slightly early end when he ground to a halt on track just before the chequered flag came out.

Pos Driver Team Time Gap

 1.  Valtteri Bottas         ART        1m52.295s
 2.  Nigel Melker            RSC Mucke  1m52.706s  + 0.411s
 3.  Luciano Bacheta         RSC Mucke  1m52.733s  + 0.438s
 4.  Gabby Chaves            Addax      1m52.738s  + 0.443s
 5.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden   1m52.819s  + 0.524s
 6.  James Calado            ART        1m52.844s  + 0.549s
 7.  Rio Haryanto            Manor      1m52.879s  + 0.584s
 8.  Dean Smith              Addax      1m52.934s  + 0.639s
 9.  Simon Trummer           MW Arden   1m52.971s  + 0.676s
10.  Andrea Caldarelli       Tech 1     1m53.123s  + 0.828s
11.  Conor Daly              Carlin     1m53.167s  + 0.872s
12.  Dominic Storey          Addax      1m53.218s  + 0.923s
13.  Michael Christensen     RSC Mucke  1m53.256s  + 0.961s
14.  Nico Muller             Jenzer     1m53.338s  + 1.043s
15.  Tom Dillmann            Carlin     1m53.368s  + 1.073s
16.  Matias Laine            Manor      1m53.457s  + 1.162s
17.  Lewis Williamson        MW Arden   1m53.491s  + 1.196s
18.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Status     1m53.524s  + 1.229s
19.  Maxim Zimin             Jenzer     1m53.649s  + 1.354s
20.  Ivan Lukashevich        Status     1m53.676s  + 1.381s
21.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Tech 1     1m53.735s  + 1.440s
22.  Nick Yelloly            Atech      1m53.855s  + 1.560s
23.  Aaro Vainio             Tech 1     1m53.983s  + 1.688s
24.  Pedro Nunes             ART        1m54.244s  + 1.949s
25.  Alexander Sims          Status     1m54.398s  + 2.103s
26.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs     Manor      1m54.409s  + 2.114s
27.  Marlon Stockinger       Atech      1m54.783s  + 2.488s
28.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Jenzer     1m55.121s  + 2.826s
29.  Zoel Amberg             Atech      1m56.193s  + 3.898s
30.  Leonardo Cordeiro       Carlin     1m59.026s  + 6.731s

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Top 10 drivers to watch in GP3
Next article Melker tops GP3 practice two

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe