Perez tops first practice for Styrian GP

F1 Grand Prix, GP Steiermark, Red Bull Ring

Sergio Perez was the fastest man in first practice for the Styrian Grand Prix, a single week after the cars raced on the same circuit for the Austrian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen was a close second, followed by the Mercedes duo.

After showing glimpses of solid speed last weekend, the Racing Points were again on it, with Lance Stroll now 5th fastest, half a second slower than his team mate, but ahead of the second Red Bull of Alexander Albon.

On the updates front, Verstappen was testing a new rear-wing for the session while Honda also brought reliability upgrades for their engine after the team suffered a double DNF in last week's Austrian Grand Prix. Ferrari also featured (minor) upgrades with a modified front wing, but as they had predicted, it wouldn't be a game changer. The scarlet cars finished the session 10th and 12th.

Carlos Sainz (also with aero upgrades on his car), Pierre Gasly and Daniel Ricciardo were all faster than 10th placed Vettel, and also faster than their respective team mates that didn't make it into the top 10.

Overall, the session was largely incident free, apart from a small stoppage as Nicholas Latifi's Williams came to a halt with a gearbox issue.

Slowest of the session was Kevin Magnussen who only managed a few installation laps due to problems with the car's battery. With Grosjean also only 16th, it appears to be seen whether Haas can bounce back from their dismal Austrian Grand Prix result of last week.