Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has topped the times in the one and only practice session ahead of qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The championship leader picked up where he left off from last year’s race at the Red Bull Ring, with the Dutch driver setting a 1:06.302 on the soft compound tyres to set the pace.
With practice critical ahead of Friday’s qualifying session, due to the Sprint Qualifying format being used for this weekend’s race, the cars will go into parc ferme conditions when they roll out for qualifying – meaning finding a good base setup during FP1 is essential.
Verstappen finished the session over three-tenths clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Mercedes placed third and fourth with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton respectively.
Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher started the weekend well for Haas as both placed in the top 10, while Silverstone race winner Carlos Sainz could only manage seventh – just ahead of compatriot Fernando Alonso.
It was a disastrous session for McLaren, who finished 17th and 20th after encountering problems on both cars that hampered their running.
Here’s the full report on everything that happened during the first practice session at the Red Bull Ring.
- Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:06.302
- Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.255
- George Russell Mercedes +0.400
- Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.537
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.607
- Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.663
- Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.737
- Fernando Alonso Alpine +0.798
- Mick Schumacher Haas +0.944
- Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +0.994
- Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.129
- Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.160
- Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin +1.174
- Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1.220
- Alex Albon Williams +1.280
- Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri +1.290
- Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +1.441
- Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +1.587
- Nicholas Latifi Williams +1.847
- Lando Norris McLaren +3.613
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News – PlanetF1…