Mercedes runs 1-2 in opening Austrian GP practice

Lewis Hamilton in his black Mercedes

Putting their superior Mercedes car, now with black livery, to good use, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were easily 1-2 in the opening practice session for the Austrian GP.

No one else was even close.

Hamilton's lap of 1m04.816s was 0.356s faster than Bottas with both setting their fast times on the soft Pirellis.

Max Verstappen was third quick for Red Bull, but he was a whopping 0.602s back. Point of note – Red Bull has “raised questions" and asked the FIA for “clarification" over Mercedes’ use of its controversial Dual Axis Steering system at Formula 1’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz Jr in the McLaren and Sergio Perez in the 'pink' Mercedes rounded out the top-5.

Practice 1 Results

POS	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	TIME
1	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas	1m 04.816
2	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Mercedes AMG Petronas	1m 05.172
3	Max Verstappen	NED	Aston Martin Red Bull	1m 05.418
4	Carlos Sainz Jr.	ESP	McLaren F1 Team	1m 05.431
5	Sergio Perez	MEX	BWT Racing Point F1 Team	1m 05.512
6	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren F1 Team	1m 05.621
7	Alexander Albon	THA	Aston Martin Red Bull	1m 05.701
8	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Renault F1 Team	1m 05.860
9	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas F1 Team	1m 05.907
10	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari	1m 05.924
11	Lance Stroll	CAN	BWT Racing Point F1 Team	1m 06.074
12	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Scuderia Ferrari	1m 06.077
13	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Renault F1 Team	1m 06.270
14	Antonio Giovinazzi	ITA	Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen	1m 06.360
15	Kimi Raikkonen	FIN	Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen	1m 06.365
16	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	1m 06.404
17	George Russell	GBR	Williams Racing	1m 06.495
18	Nicholas Latifi	CAN	Williams Racing	1m 06.906
19	Daniil Kvyat	RUS	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	1m 06.943
20	Romain Grosjean	FRA	Haas F1 Team	No Time