Austria – Free Practice 1: Hamilton beats track record with hardest rubber
There was no rush on this Friday morning at Spielberg, as teams and drivers waited almost 30 minutes before starting the timed race. Many mistakes were made, and Hamilton set the fastest time of the morning, with Vettel in 4th place.
First to leave the pits, Sergei Sirotkin hopes to do more laps than in Russia at the wheel of the Renault this Friday morning. At Force India, Sergio Pérez has given up his seat to Alfonso Celiz Jr.
🚥 GREEN LIGHT 🚥
Away we go! #FP1 #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/x6HnKQP1h1
— Formula 1 (@F1) 7 juillet 2017
After almost 9 minutes of the session, it is Max Verstappen who symbolically completes the first timed lap at the wheel of the Red Bull in 1:09.173 – improved on the second lap. The track remains almost empty as few drivers go out to set a timed mark. The second driver to set a time is Lance Stroll, far from Verstappen with 1:09.658, which he improved to 1:08.429.
During a flying lap, it seems difficult for the drivers to maintain the balance of the car in turns 9 and 10 and also on the exit of turn 1. The first yellow flag waved for these FP1 is credited to Kimi Räikkönen, as the Finn saw his rear end lock up and skid off in the first braking. He returns to the pits and says goodbye to his set of super-soft tires.
Another braking issue for Romain Grosjean at turn 3, unfortunately accustomed to this kind of misfortune. Then a new yellow flag is waved and we see a Ferrari in trouble again – Vettel’s, reversing out of turn 1 – after losing grip while riding too much on the inside curb.
🤔 Someone’s going the wrong way… #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/d8N0EiutoP
— Formula 1 (@F1) 7 juillet 2017
During these events, the drivers finally decided to return to the track to record times. After a third of the session, the standings are as follows: Hamilton with the best time at 1’06″526, ahead of Vettel and Bottas by 3 tenths, followed by Verstappen, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Ocon, Alonso, Massa, and Grosjean in the top 10. Further down are Vandoorne, Magnussen, Palmer, Sainz, Stroll, Celiz, Sirotkin, Wehrlein, Ericsson, and Räikkönen who has not yet completed a timed lap.
Unlike the previous tracks, the Red Bull Ring seems to be less forgiving on the tires. The difficulties are concentrated at the rear of the car with tires that heat up too much or even overheat, while the front tires are difficult to bring up to temperature.
.@redbullring_ is another track where we expect generally low wear and degradation. We’ll learn more after the long runs of course #F1
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) 7 juillet 2017
New off-track excursion, Max Verstappen visits the gravel trap and gives a little tap to the wall in turn 7, fortunately without major damage. Räikkönen has moved up to 4th position with a new set of super-soft tires.
📻 “I slightly clipped the wall…” the Dutchman informs his team after he slid off ⬇️ at Turn 7 #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/7e4HTlT1bk
— Formula 1 (@F1) 7 juillet 2017
New respite period on the track, after his stint Räikkönen comes in and leaves an empty track. Lance Stroll and Jolyon Palmer break the silence, the Canadian improves and takes 14th place from Carlos Sainz. The Brit climbs to 12th place ahead of the Haas cars. Valtteri Bottas takes the opportunity to set the fastest time at 1″06’345.
A few more approximations on track, Felipe Massa goes straight at turn 3 like Grosjean at the beginning of the session, Carlos Sainz makes the same mistake as Vettel at turn 1 and loses his Toro Rosso, Stroll understeers and goes beyond the curb at turn 9.
New batch of troubles, Grosjean gets a front left puncture after taking too much curb in turns 9 and 10, Daniil Kvyat loses his Toro Rosso at the entrance of turn 4. In a completely unprecedented event, we see Vandoorne’s McLaren in 5th place, 938 thousandths behind Bottas, who also gets caught in turn 1. On the other side of the garage, Alonso is 9th, 2 tenths behind Vandoorne; the engine development and the circuit’s chassis-favorable configuration allow the Woking team to show results instead of images of stationary cars.
Love this epic track shot. Looks like the cars are racing on the Austrian flag itself. #AustrianGP 😍🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/ttd1SNYpEc
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) 7 juillet 2017
Fitted with soft tires – the hardest this weekend – Lewis Hamilton records the best time and breaks the track record in 1:05.975. Concerns persist around the tires as the majority of drivers have chosen to bring only one to two sets of yellow-banded tires even though they seem more appropriate than the ultra-softs which overheat very quickly.
At the end of the session, Verstappen moves back up to 2nd place but loses the car entering turn 3 on a final attempt, while Hamilton, back on track with his set of softs, misses turn 1 twice but manages to keep it on the track.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP1): Busy morning in Spielberg #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/wcdC7xMrmd
— Formula 1 (@F1) 7 juillet 2017
