Austria – Free Practice 1: Mercedes Tames the Bull

A week after the French Grand Prix, F1 has already resumed in the middle of the Austrian Alps at the Red Bull Ring. As is often the case in this region, the temperatures are quite cool, with it being only 18°C in the air and 25°C on the track when the drivers began their session. The sky was threatening, with nearly a 60% chance of rain during the session.

This morning, Robert Kubica once again took the wheel in place of Sergey Sirotkin. This is his second official session of the year after the one held in Barcelona. We can’t say the session was ideal for the Pole as he finished last, more than half a second behind Brendon Hartley, who occupies the 19th place.

Max Verstappen was the first to set his name on the timing board. But the Mercedes drivers quickly took the lead. The Silver Arrows arrived at the circuit with numerous upgrades to consolidate their position as leaders in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships. The times set by Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were achieved with Super Soft tires, while the Ferraris immediately used the softest compound, the Ultra Softs.

Renault also arrived with a significant upgrade, a brand-new MGU-K, which had been anticipated for nearly a year. It was installed in the cars of both drivers from its own team as well as on Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren. Fernando Alonso and the two Red Bull cars did not adopt it as it would have resulted in penalties.

After half an hour, we almost witnessed a collision in the pit lane when Stoffel Vandoorne was released just in front of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, forcing him to slam on the brakes. This led to an investigation by the stewards, and he had to explain himself after the session.

Almost a 🙈 moment #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/VljZcl0ZQo

— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 juin /f1/actualite/22795-le-petit-prince-arrive-sur-une-piste-quil-adore.html

The teams implemented different tire strategies as Daniel Ricciardo endeavored to complete laps on the soft tires, positioning himself just four hundredths off Lewis Hamilton’s reference time on the super softs.

Stoffel Vandoorne’s session was quite eventful, as he broke his front wing due to vibrations when passing over curbs in the penultimate corner. This forced him to return to the pits for a replacement. His mechanics even had to lift the car onto stands to perform additional repairs and changes. As for Fernando Alonso, he spent most of the session analyzing the new features, which explains why he had only completed six laps after 55 minutes, with no representative time.

When Mercedes decided to switch to ultra-softs, the times quickly dropped as Lewis Hamilton pushed Daniel Ricciardo back by nearly half a second. In the last quarter-hour of the session, the Silver Arrows picked up their pace again, with Lewis Hamilton being the first of the weekend to break the 1:05 barrier, before Valtteri Bottas followed suit.

Very confident approaching the weekend, Charles Leclerc confirmed the potential of his Sauber as he clocked the 9th fastest time in the session, amidst the French pack with Romain Grosjean in 7th, Esteban Ocon 8th, and Pierre Gasly 10th. If this configuration remains the same following the qualifications, it could result in an interesting start, after the incidents in the first corner at the Castellet.

FP1 CLASSIFICATION: A perfect start for Mercedes 👏 #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/rwGaj9IqLB

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 29 /f1/actualite/22795-le-petit-prince-arrive-sur-une-piste-quil-adore.html

From our special correspondent in Austria