Bottas fastest in practice for 70th Anniversary Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland steers his car during a practice session at the 70th Anniversary Formula One Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit, Silverstone, England, Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. (Bryn Lennon, Pool Photo via AP)

SILVERSTONE, England— Valtteri Bottas set the fastest time in the first practice session for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone on Friday, just ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Bottas posted a lap of 1 minute 26.166 seconds, beating Hamilton’s best time by .138 seconds. Max Verstappen was third-fastest for Red Bull in 1:26.893.

Nico Hulkenberg placed fourth as the German stands in at Racing Point for Sergio Perez, who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ferrari was again off Mercedes’ pace, with Charles Leclerc fifth-fastest and Sebastian Vettel seventh. Mercedes has won every race so far this year.

The race marks the 70th year since the Formula One championship began. The first race of the 1950 season was held at Silverstone. It’s the second race in Britain after the calendar was reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic.

The second practice session is later Friday.