Austrian Grand Prix: George Russell dominates Free Practice 1
Despite a lot of hard work from all the teams, the first free practice session was rather quiet. George Russell set the fastest time, while young Alex Dunne impressed with 4th.
The eleventh round is underway at the Red Bull Ring. After the violent storms of the previous day, the track is dry and the sun is timidly shining over Spielberg. At the dawn of this weekend, Oscar Piastri is still the championship leader with a 22-point lead over his teammate, Lando Norris. Norris, incidentally, is giving his seat to Alex Donne, a driver from the McLaren academy who competes in F2, during this first free practice session. The same goes for Charles Leclerc, who lends his car to Dino Beganovic. This is one of the four sessions per year that each team must offer to rookies.
Progress of the first free practice session
Lewis Hamilton is the first to take to the track. Despite the F3 and F2 running this morning, the track still seems dusty. Kimi Antonelli is driving with the old rear wing, while George Russell enjoys a new, more streamlined version. It’s a time for testing and comparisons at Mercedes. After 15 minutes of the session, Yuki Tsunoda makes a mistake and complains about his brakes. After completing 7 laps, Lewis Hamilton encounters a gearbox problem and returns to his garage. A little later, it’s on Beganovic’s car that the new Ferrari floor is installed.
Regarding performances, even if they are to be put in parentheses during the tests, at mid-session it is George Russell who holds the best time, followed by Carlos Sainz and Kimi Antonelli. Lewis Hamilton returns to the track after some repairs. It’s important not to waste a minute of these tests. Indeed, with the mountainous climate of the circuit, thunderstorms are expected in the afternoon and could affect the second test session. Therefore, as much as possible must be tested during these FP1.
Fernando Alonso spins as he was starting a fast lap. His tires weren’t warm enough. Fortunately, there are no consequences. Flow-vis can be seen on Oscar Piastri’s car. As a reminder, this special paint is used to visualize airflow around the car and allows aerodynamic teams to study the airflow and thus obtain valuable information.
20 minutes from the end, Esteban Ocon caused the first yellow flag of the session. He went straight into the runoff area of turn 1. In the final minutes, the traffic gets a bit hectic as a few raindrops fall in turns 3 and 4.
George Russell finishes this first session of the weekend at the top ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. Alex Dunne does very well and ends up 4th on the timesheet. A bit further back, the Williams are in 7th and 8th positions, while Hamilton is 9th. Among the French, Pierre Gasly is 5th, Isack Hadjar is 10th, and Esteban Ocon brings up the rear in 19th position.
