FP1: Hamilton heads Vettel

By on

Formula One arrived at Austria for the season's first double header. As cars hit the track just 5 days after the French Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton ended up topping a very eventful the session.

As Vettel and Verstappen - cheered on again by a large number of Dutch fans - went out early, Valtteri Bottas took it easy, as he was forced to sit out a large part of the beginning due to an oil leak that required changing the car's power unit.

After Verstappen set the early pace, many drivers were reminded of the circuit's brutal sausage kerbs. Lerclec for one heavily scrubbed the underside of his Ferrari at one point while Lance Stroll lost a small piece of front wing. Hulkenberg did better yet, ditching the left half of his front wing and bringing out the red flag to clear up the mess.

So, it was Hamilton who ended up fastest on the soft tyres, with Vettel second fastest with the mediums. His team mate, Charles Leclerc was 4th fastest, though his work was mainly related to testing a new nose cone for the Ferrari.

Valtteri Bottas was third, despite being unhappy about his car's balance, leaving Red Bull's duo in 5th and 6th.

Sainz and Ricciardo led the fight for the midfield, followed by Magnussen and Norris.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:04.838-34
25Sebastian VettelFerrari1:04.982+0.144s23
377Valtteri BottasMercedes1:04.999+0.161s37
416Charles LeclercFerrari1:05.141+0.303s26
533Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda1:05.260+0.422s30
610Pierre GaslyRed Bull Racing Honda1:05.378+0.540s30
755Carlos SainzMcLaren Renault1:05.502+0.664s34
83Daniel RicciardoRenault1:05.846+1.008s27
920Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:05.876+1.038s27
104Lando NorrisMcLaren Renault1:06.125+1.287s27
118Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:06.135+1.297s20
1226Daniil KvyatScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:06.272+1.434s29
1323Alexander AlbonScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:06.285+1.447s32
1427Nico HulkenbergRenault1:06.383+1.545s30
1511Sergio PerezRacing Point Bwt Mercedes1:06.457+1.619s36
1699Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:06.708+1.870s30
177Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:06.729+1.891s23
1818Lance StrollRacing Point Bwt Mercedes1:06.756+1.918s29
1963George RussellWilliams Mercedes1:06.805+1.967s28
2088Robert KubicaWilliams Mercedes1:07.665+2.827s28