Austria – Free Practice 2: Hamilton Still Ahead of Bottas

Mercedes then the rest

Lewis Hamilton offers no respite to the other drivers by imposing his frenetic pace. A best lap in 1:04.304 allows him to take the top spot in this second free practice session in Austria. His teammate Valtteri Bottas is less than 2 tenths (+0.197) behind him, but it’s after that gap widens. Sergio Perez, 3rd in this session, is already more than 6 tenths behind in his Racing Point (+0.641). In force, both Hamilton and Bottas also tested the DAS on their steering wheel, the Dual Axis Steering, a formidable system already seen in Barcelona, which reduces tire wear while improving top speed on straights!

A session without major incidents, but several errors!

First car on track in this session, Romain Grosjean is driving on the Red Bull Ring after experiencing a brake pedal issue this morning. A Haas that remains inconsistent, lacking downforce, and unchanged since the winter testing in Barcelona.

In this FP2, the first corner is complicated for the drivers, with spin-outs (Kvyat, Latifi, Albon) and off-track excursions (Magnussen). The end of the circuit is also challenging with frequent mistakes in the hairpin of turn 3.

Kvyat pointing the wrong way at Turn 1 ????#AustrianGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/iIVdFteeaV

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2020

The start of the session is calm despite a few small errors: we find the Racing Points of Stroll (1:05.469) ahead of his teammate Pérez followed by the Red Bulls and then the McLarens. These 6 cars are within 0.5 seconds of each other while 14 cars are running within the same second. The track is also evolving, drying out, and rubbering in, becoming increasingly faster.

After half an hour of taxiing, the Renaults finally take to the track. The Ferraris, which were stagnating in the middle of the pack, finally move up into the top 5 with a strong performance by Vettel at 1:06.077, a time on par with the Racing Points but behind Bottas’s Mercedes, which is half a second ahead of the rest with a lap time of 1:04.501.

At mid-session, almost all drivers are running on super soft tires, except for the McLarens, who are working on long stints with hard tires. In the standings, we have Hamilton (1:04.304) ahead of Bottas, Perez, Vettel, Stroll, and Verstappen. Great performance from Kvyat: the Russian is 8th, well ahead of his teammate Gasly in 15th.

Surprisingly, the Red Bull drivers are struggling with their car! A lot of oversteer and an off-track excursion into the gravel trap at Turn 6 for Verstappen, forcing him to return to the pits to check his car. As for Albon, he is testing the limits by making small mistakes, including a spin at the first corner.

smooth ————— bumpy #AustrianGP ???????? @Max33Verstappen pic.twitter.com/k1WgJj16FV

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2020

As in 2019, the end of the session was marked by long stints with hard and soft tires. Teams are preparing for Sunday’s race but also for Saturday’s qualifying session. The top teams are trying to find performance with the soft tires, likely to save a set of tires for the race.

No improvement on the track side but a timesheet shared between the teams. This variety promises exciting battles on the track! A slight improvement for Ferrari drivers who catch up with Racing Point’s Pérez, an impressive third at the end of this FP2.

The session ends with several attempts to start after the checkered flag, a preview of Sunday, the first race of this 2020 season!

Here is the ranking of this second free practice session:

Join us this Saturday around 1 PM for the summary of the third free practice session!