Austria – Free Practice 2: Vettel both reassures and worries

The Ferrari clan can keep a mixed feeling from this day: on one hand, Kimi Räikkönen, rather consistent, once again takes third place, and on the other hand, Sebastian Vettel narrowly achieves the fastest time… before falling victim (again) to technical issues, once more originating from his gearbox. Vettel seems to be the man who can give the German team a run for their money… but it remains to be seen if his recurring reliability issues will not harm him in qualifying or during the race. Moreover, the German has only driven a little to preserve his mechanics.

In any case, Ferrari is indeed threatening Mercedes in a single lap. In fact, Rosberg settles for second place. However, there are only eleven thousandths of a second between the two men; moreover, at first glance, the (modest) fifth place of the double world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton may raise some questions. But the person concerned wanted to put his repeated approximations into perspective: I was good on my lap, I was four tenths ahead of Nico. I’m happy with that. There’s not much to change.

Like in Canada, the Lotus cars are showing a promising form in free practice. Benefiting from the power of the Mercedes engine and their natural speed on straight lines, the Black and Gold are ranked 4th (Maldonado) and 7th (Grosjean). Just behind them, but not by much, are the Force India-Mercedes and, more surprisingly, the Toro Rosso, which have to rely on a Renault engine that struggles with top speed. The Little Scuderia is actually ahead of both Red Bull cars.

The Williams team seems to be struggling. Felipe Massa is in 15th place, behind his teammate Valteri Bottas. He doesn’t seem able to repeat his performance from last year. The observation is surprising as the Williams cars are benefiting this week from upgrades deemed crucial for the rest of the season.

And finally, McLaren isn’t making progress either. Jenson Button encountered new issues with his engine, while the shorter nose installed on Fernando Alonso’s car number 14 hardly improved things. The two world champions are already doomed to fight with the teams at the bottom of the standings.