FP1: Verstappen heads Piastri in sole practice at the Red Bull Ring

Championship runaway chief Max Verstappen set the benchmark in the sole one-hour practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix. F1Technical’s lead journalist Balazs Szabo studies on Free Practice 1 from the Red Bull Ring.

The outcomes point out that reigning world champion Max Verstappen had an ideal begin to his Austrian Grand Prix, albeit he had points to beat in the opening session. The Dutchman had a minor engine failure in the center a part of the session.

The Red Bull driver’s RB20 conked out at the backside of the hill on the run as much as Turn 1, however he was capable of roll his RB20 again to marshals, who pushed him again into the pitlane below a purple flag. Verstappen then went on to set the benchmark time with a 1m05.685s on Pirelli’s tender tyres.

Ferrari appeared to lack tempo in the opening a part of the session, however Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took third and fourth respectively.

Lewis Hamilton ended the session in P5 after having led the discipline earlier than the qualifying simulation runs. The Briton refused to make use of the tender compound, and spent the final phase of the session by finishing a race simulation run on Pirelli’s arduous compound.

His team-mate George Russell additionally seemed mighty robust on the hards, however he aborted his flying lap on the red-walled tyres, and ended up eighth.

McLaren had a fairly session. Having struggled for tempo at Barcelona per week in the past, Oscar Piastri is in high type once more as he ended
the session second, three tenths of a second behind Verstappen.

His team-mate Lando Norris was on track to problem Verstappen’s time on his qualifying simulation lap, however he made a mistake in Sector 2, and was unable to enhance his earlier finest lap that he set on the white-banded hards.

Esteban Ocon set the sixth quickest lap, confirming Alpine’s enhancements in latest races. His team-mate Pierre Gasly was 4 tenths of a second slower, and ended the session 5 locations behind.

Sergio Perez seemed robust on the arduous compound, however he couldn’t nail his qualifying simulation lap on the C5 tyres, and ended the sole practice in P12.