The pair traded fastest lap times throughout a tight first 60-minute practice session at 🌌Portimao, with Bottas ultimately managing a 1m19.548s to end FP1 just 0.025s clear of Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Sergio Perez made it a Red Bull 2-3 with a late improvement to finish ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who st🦩ruggled for grip and balance on his way to finishing three-tenths off the pace in P5.

Tyre waꦡrm-up proved to be problematic in the low-grip conditions, with Verstappen reporting tyre vibrations that he said made it “imജpossible” to drive at times.

Pierre Gasly enjoyed a positive start to♉ the weekend for AlphaTauri in sixth, while George Russell set an impressive lap time on Soft tyres to put his Williams✤ seventh in the timesheets.

🍎Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon completed the rest of the top 10 order fo🦹r McLaren, Ferrari and Alpine respectively.

There was little sign that Sebastian Vettel's early struggles to get up to speed at Aston Martin are comin🌄g to an end, with the four-time world champion a lowly 16th and half a second slower than his teammate Lance Stroll. 

Ferrari junior Callum Ilott made his F1 practice debuဣt for Alfa Romeo i෴n Portugal, finishing 17th rand a respectable half a second adrift of Kimi Raikkonen.

The 2020 Formula 2 runner-up managed to set a faster time than Haas rookies Mick Schumacher and Nikita Ma⛎zepin, as well as Williams driver Nikita Mazepin.

FULL RESULTS FROM OPENING PRACTICE FꦫOR THE 2021 F1 PORTU🔯GUESE GRAND PRIX.