Austria – Free Practice 1: Hamilton ahead of Vettel, Hülkenberg causes a red flag
It's a first calm session ending with a slight domination by Lewis Hamilton over Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, and Charles Leclerc. The aggressive kerbs caused the breakage of many front wings, including Nico Hülkenberg's at the end of the session, which led to a red flag due to the many debris left on the track by the Renault.
It is under a big sun, in Austria as well as here in France, that the first practice session begins. Max Verstappen is the first to take to the track, as the pit lane light has just turned green. Following him are Magnussen, Giovinazzi, Hülkenberg, Albon, and Sainz.
At Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas is immobilized due to an oil leak on engine No. 2 installed in his car. The mechanics are working hard to get the Finn back on track, and engine No. 1 will be reinstalled (with more mileage on the odometer).
The initial times are credited to Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz, with a 1:07.285 for the Frenchman. A few minutes into the session, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel leave the pit lane. The Ferrari drivers heighten the competition by aiming for Gasly’s time. Leclerc manages to improve with a 1:06.169 before Vettel edges him out with a 1:06.160.
At the foot of the provisional podium for this session, Lando Norris is 426 thousandths off Vettel’s time, ahead of Sainz. Next are Magnussen, Grosjean, Kvyat, and Albon for the drivers with recorded times. The timesheet continues to fill up as on the track Kevin Magnussen comes in hard at turn 1 and has to go wide.
We’ve all been keen to try the local cuisine – Magnussen just headed straight for the sausage kerb at Turn One 🌭
Testing the limits is what #FP1 is for 👊#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/6tV6Qkhhk5
— Formula 1 (@F1) 28 juin 2019
In the first third of the session, here’s an initial update on the rankings of times: Verstappen in 1:06.100, Vettel, Leclerc, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Sainz, Gasly, Norris, Pérez, Kvyat, Magnussen, Hülkenberg, Räikkönen, Albon, Stroll, Grosjean, Giovinazzi, Russell, Bottas, Kubica.
Trapped last year in turn 9 at the wheel of his Toro Rosso, Pierre Gasly went to test the roughness of the curbs once again. In the pits, Max Verstappen, after achieving a very good time of 1:05.488, performs an impressive burnout to maximize the rubber on his spot.
🌬️#AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/Ii6axJThuC
— La F1® sur CANAL (@LaF1SurCanal) 28 juin 2019
The halfway point of the session passed and a new set of tires fitted to the cars, the battle for the best time resumes. Verstappen’s time is successively improved by Leclerc, then by Bottas, and finally reclaimed by Leclerc with a 1:05.141. The head-to-head continues with even more intensity and Bottas goes under a minute 05 with a 1:04.999.
A glance at the top speeds shows the evolution of the McLaren. Almost always absent from this ranking last year, the Woking single-seater is demonstrating its speed on the straights this season.
3⃣1⃣6⃣km/h for @Carlossainz55 – the fastest man so far through the speed trap 🤙
30 minutes remaining in FP1 #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/KIKfAijeea
— Formula 1 (@F1) 28 juin 2019
The kerb at turn 4 is particularly aggressive on the front wings, with several drivers running wide being caught out, including Hamilton and Stroll. Other kerbs also damage these fragile wings, which are replaced for Hamilton, Vettel, Gasly, among others.
At turn 3, Valtteri Bottas is struggling with the braking phase and goes straight on twice in a row. On his radio, the Finn blames the rear part. At turn 1, Sebastian Vettel has to go wide in turn. Only in provisional eleventh place, the German is looking to climb up the rankings and ultimately succeeds by attaining the 2nd fastest time. He positions himself between Hamilton and Bottas.
On the tire front, the soft compound was overwhelmingly favored by drivers to achieve their best times. Only Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc used the medium compound, while Lando Norris set his 10th fastest time with the hard tire.
As the session was gently nearing its end, a lot of wing debris was reported by the marshals at the exit of the last corner. A Renault-branded vertical fin incriminates Nico Hülkenberg, who is missing the left half of his front wing. The German broke his wing at the exit of turn 9 by climbing over the yellow curbs.
The race direction brings out the red flag three minutes before the end of the session. The cars will not go back out.
CLASSIFICATION – FP1
It’s @LewisHamilton at the top in a rapidly-roasting Spielberg 🙏#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/8b1iebLEkq
— Formula 1 (@F1) 28 juin 2019
