The start of the Formula 1 race weekend in Austria ends with a best time from Max Verstappen. The Red Bull driver drives the fastest time in the first practice session ahead of Oscar Piastri. But a technical problem halfway through the session causes headaches for Red Bull and causes a red flag.
Formula 1 Austria: Best time for Max Verstappen at the Spielberg opener
The result: After Mercedes had been in the lead for a long time, it was only in the final minutes that they started using the soft tyres. Verstappen set the fastest lap with a time of 1:05.685 and relegated Oscar Piastri to second place, about three tenths behind. The Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc followed one place behind ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five, followed by Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll. George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso completed the top 10. Lando Norris only finished 13th because he ended up in the gravel trap after a driving error on his final run – during which he was on course for the fastest time. Nico Hülkenberg finished 17th.
The incidents: A disagreement arose between Hülkenberg and Leclerc after about 15 minutes. The Ferrari driver ran into the slow Haas on a fast lap in turn 4, who did not know that Leclerc was on a fast lap, and had to brake sharply on the inside. Hülkenberg retaliated a few meters later by overtaking him and gesticulating in his direction.
Both Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris complained of an unusual steering feel during the session. Norris noted that the steering wheel was much easier to turn to the left than to the right, while Tsunoda even requested a change due to a similar problem.
However, Max Verstappen was the biggest cause of excitement in the first practice session in Spielberg. The Dutchman rolled out in his RB20 28 minutes before the end of the session and parked on the start-finish straight. During the red flag that followed, he was rolled back to the pit lane. However, he was able to take part in the session again shortly after the red phase ended.
Just before the end of the time, Lando Norris was close to beating Verstappen’s best time again. But after an absolutely fastest first sector, he made a mistake in turn 4 and the McLaren driver slid into the gravel trap.
Technology: At the second stop of the current tripleheader, there were hardly any technical changes to the vehicles. The most notable was a new front wing for McLaren, which was initially only fitted to Oscar Piastri in FP1, while Lando Norris was out comparing data with the old front wing.
Weather: Despite humid conditions around the Red Bull Ring, the session took place entirely in dry conditions and with air temperatures of around 23 to 24 degrees Celsius. The track was heated to 37 degrees under moderate cloud cover.