Austria – Free Practice 2: Hamilton, Rosberg, and Alonso, supersonic trio

The sky is threatening for this second free practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix. 18°C in the air, 28°C on the track, and 47% humidity are the noteworthy weather elements. This morning, a few drops of rain fell on the Red Bull Ring. There is a 30% chance that it will return this afternoon.

At the green light, Ericsson and Chilton are the first to break the silence of the paddock. The Swede sets the initial time at 1:18:198, quickly beaten by Chilton at 1:14:355 then Sutil at 1:13:077. It’s busy on the track. The drivers seem particularly eager to set a time, as the rain could disrupt the session. After ten minutes, Button sits at the top of the timesheets with 1:11:403, as Lewis Hamilton exits his garage. As a reminder, the best time this morning was set by Rosberg at 1:11:295. The session is off to a flying start! No driver has yet fitted the super-soft tires.

Best time for Alonso with 1:11.271, just ahead of Nico Rosberg, who trails the Ferrari by 0.060 seconds. Slight mistake in the final corner for Lewis Hamilton. 1:12.565 and only ninth fastest for the Briton. Alonso, on soft tires, maintains his momentum. He is the first to break the 1:11 barrier with a 1:10.899, quickly surpassed by Rosberg with a 1:10.835. Hamilton corrects the course, closing within six-tenths of his teammate and then beating him by more than three-tenths! 1:10.525 for the Mercedes No. 44 after eight laps. Two laps later, he improves again with a 1:10.460, while the second place is no longer Rosberg but Bottas. Not for long. The Mercedes No. 6 appears once more behind the No. 44, by 0.260 seconds, then just 0.039. The German stops in the pits as he was improving.

After thirty minutes, the Mercedes are in their usual place, Hamilton just ahead of Rosberg. Behind them, Bottas, Alonso, and Massa are within three tenths of each other. Bianchi is the first to leave the pits on super-softs. Sixteenth place and 1:12.279 for the Frenchman, after some mistakes on his lap. His compatriot Vergne imitates him, performing a nice figure in the penultimate corner. Magnussen is the first of the big names to switch to the red-walled tires. 1:10.982 for the Dane, fifth fastest time. Another light exit at turn #8 for Adrian Sutil! The sequence of fast corners at the end of the circuit seems particularly perilous on a fresh track.

This does not disturb the Mercedes team, who are setting incredible lap times on super-soft tires. 1:10.399 for Rosberg, who gains relatively little with his new tires, unlike Hamilton who improves on car no. 6’s time by over seven-tenths! 1:09.652 for the Brit, while Massa moves into third place, almost nine-tenths behind. Alonso positions himself just ahead of the Brazilian, with 1:10.470. The other Ferrari, driven by Räikkönen, is only eighth, over five-tenths behind the Spaniard. The Red Bulls are far behind, only ninth and tenth, more than one and a half seconds from Mercedes no. 44. Hamilton steps it up again! 1:09.542, with the best time in the last sector. He pushes Rosberg back to 857 milliseconds. The German gets back to work, reducing the gap to less than four-tenths, with 1:09.919, while Vettel and Alonso also take a lap going beyond the curb of turn no. 8.

After an hour, Hamilton leads Rosberg, Alonso, Bottas, and Massa. Things are slightly better for Red Bull with Vettel in sixth, one second behind Hamilton, and Ricciardo in eighth. Despite this, they don’t seem comfortable on their circuit. The drivers are now beginning race simulations, with lap times significantly slower than at the start of the session. On super-softs, Hamilton, hampered by a Caterham, clocks in at 1:15.085, nearly six seconds off his best time. On the radio, he’s reminded he should aim for times in the 1:12 range. 1:14.828 for Vettel; 1:16.406 for Hülkenberg.

Difficult to know the power dynamics, even if Hamilton sets a benchmark time of 1:14:2, still on super-softs. He quickly improves to 1:13:739. On his side, Massa consistently runs at 1:15:1, 1:15:2, with peaks at 1:14:4. “Box, box, box, Lewis. We need to test the other tires,” crackles Hamilton’s radio. The Brit responds: “I feel good with these tires. I want to continue on super-softs.” His engineer concedes: “Ok, one more lap.”

On soft tires, Nico Rosberg consistently clocks 1:13 in his race simulation, with a reference lap time of 1:13.743. The FIA informs that there will be no report on the excursions at turn 8. The race director will inform the drivers about the policy regarding these excursions if they occur again during the race.

At the checkered flag, no change on the timesheet. Lewis Hamilton leads Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso. A new duel between the Mercedes in prospect on Austrian soil!

From our special correspondent in Austria