FP1: Verstappen fastest in first Austrian practice

F1 Grand Prix, GP Steiermark, Red Bull Ring

Max Verstappen continued to top the timesheet a week after winning the French Grand Prix. The Dutchman topped Pierre Gasly as they both edged the Mercedes duo.

Both Verstappen and Gasly were quick as of the first runs in the session and maintained their performances when switching to the softer tyres. Both Honda-powered drivers crucially had a reasonable margin on the Mercedes duo as both stranded at more than 4 tenths of Verstappen's pace.

Yuki Tsunoda was 5th fastest and underlined AlphaTauris early pace this weekend. The young Japanese topped both Alpines which also seemed quite comfortable on their early outings, easily heading midfield competitors like McLaren, Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Lance Stroll was closest in 8th, followed by Antonion Giovinazzi for Alfa Romeo Racing. Charles Leclerc just made it into the top 10 for Ferrari, narrowly topping his teammate by 0.001s. Sainz however complained of throttle issues early on in the session and spun before Turn 1, briefly blocking the pit exit just as Valtteri Bottas emerged out of the pitlane.

Daniel Ricciardo ended up in 12th but still topped Norris who couldn't do better than 16th in a low-key session for McLaren. Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel were closely behind and indicated how small margins can make a big difference around the short Red Bull Ring.

In the back, Robert Kubica had another outing in the Alfa Romeo and ended up 19th, just ahead of Haas's Nikita Mazepin who rounded the field.