Sir Hamilton is not giving up – will he be there in 2024?

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In the first practice session on the 5.412 km circuit, Alonso (7th) in the Aston Martin-Mercedes and Hamilton (2nd) in the Mercedes had to line up behind the fastest, teammate Russell.

Hamilton: “I’m happy”

While Alonso has initially signed his contract with the “Greens” until the end of 2024, Hamilton plans another season with the Silver Arrows. “I am happy with Mercedes. There is no question of a change for me anyway,” says the Briton. The Italian newspaper “La Stampa” revealed the star with 314 races (Alonso has 359): “Yes, we are already talking about next season.” The hunger for the 8th world title is still there.

Mick Schumacher’s problems

And this joy of the 103-time GP winner in racing is not such good news for Mercedes replacement Mick Schumacher (24). He and those around him had speculated about Hamilton’s resignation. The German had forgotten his Formula 1 passport on Friday morning. Mick had to ask for help. So longtime communications officer Rosa came and helped Schumi get into the paddock.

Botta’s 14th – Zhou 17th

In the first practice, 50 degrees was measured on the asphalt. And Verstappen immediately took the lead ahead of Hülkenberg (Haas-Ferrari) and Hamilton. His Mercedes teammate Russell came into the pits immediately after the warm-up lap. Something with the controls doesn’t seem right.

After 23 long minutes, Russell returns to the slopes. Only after 17 minutes did the two Alfa-Saubers driven by Zhou and Bottas appear as the bottom drivers in the standings. By the end after 60 minutes, the Finn was 14th and the Chinese 17th.

Hulkenberg: best time, then crash

Up front, the stars battled for the best times on white rubber (hard) and yellow tires (medium). An attack on last year’s pole time of Leclerc (Ferrari) with 1:28.796 is probably not scheduled until qualifying on Saturday at 10pm CET (TV live). After 28 minutes, Nico Hülkenberg was ahead in the Haas-Ferrari. He and Magnussen were the first pilots to have the soft tire (red) fitted. It was only when Verstappen also went soft that the Dutchman was clearly ahead – 1:31.054.

Memories of Schumi

As soon as Verstappen set the tone, Hulkenberg – again on red – after a spin against the nearest walls: red flag. But time went on! It was the first crash for the American team’s Schumi successor. Hopefully the evil curse on Haas won’t last.

Silver Rebirth

After ten minutes it started again. While Ferrari and Alpine lapped at the front, the Silver Arrows emerged from the front in the final five minutes. For Leclerc and Verstappen. Then Sainz, Gasly, Alonso, Stroll and Hulkenberg.

De Vries thinks of the dead

Clear rear light: Nyck de Vries, for many in the circus by far the weakest driver. The Alpha Tauri man is worried: “We are driving in circles here. At the same time, people have died at the team’s site in Faenza due to the floods of the past few days. Our thoughts are with the families who lost everything in the floods.”

Source : Blick