F1: Verstappen tops Austrian GP practice ahead of Sprint Qualifying
Red Bull ace Max Verstappen, cheered on by the Dutch Orange Army, turned the fastest lap in opening practice for the Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring.
Verstappen’s lap of 1m06.302s on soft Pirellis was 0.255s faster than the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Third was George Russell in the Mercedes, 0.400s behind but on medium tires, so Mercedes may be sandbagging.
Sergio Perez was 4th in the 2nd Red Bull, 0.537s behind, while Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top-5in the 2nd Mercedes of the soft rubber.
Lando Norris had an engine fire and dropped out of the session early.
This is the only practice before Sprint race qualifying – up next in two hours.
Practice 1 Results
| POS | DRIVER | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:06.302 | +0.000s | 34 | |
| 2 | 1:06.557 | +0.255s | 32 | |
| 3 | 1:06.702 | +0.400s | 32 | |
| 4 | 1:06.839 | +0.537s | 27 | |
| 5 | 1:06.909 | +0.607s | 31 | |
| 6 | 1:06.965 | +0.663s | 32 | |
| 7 | 1:07.039 | +0.737s | 29 | |
| 8 | 1:07.100 | +0.798s | 32 | |
| 9 | 1:07.246 | +0.944s | 32 | |
| 10 | 1:07.296 | +0.994s | 33 | |
| 11 | 1:07.431 | +1.129s | 26 | |
| 12 | 1:07.462 | +1.160s | 27 | |
| 13 | 1:07.476 | +1.174s | 29 | |
| 14 | 1:07.522 | +1.220s | 27 | |
| 15 | 1:07.582 | +1.280s | 32 | |
| 16 | 1:07.592 | +1.290s | 33 | |
| 17 | 1:07.743 | +1.441s | 25 | |
| 18 | 1:07.889 | +1.587s | 28 | |
| 19 | 1:08.149 | +1.847s | 28 | |
| 20 | 1:09.915 | +3.613s | 14 |