Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two ahead of Valtteri Bottas during first practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring circuit.
Both Mercedes pilots are running the team’s all-new aero package this weekend, which features several new developments on the W09 in an attempt to pull away from its front-running rivals.
Max Verstappen started Red Bull’s home race weekend in an encouraging third place.
There was drama for Verstappen early in the session as he dipped his left-rear wheel into the gravel on the exit of Turn 4 under acceleration, causing him to spin. The Dutchman managed to avoid getting stuck in the gravel trap and continued on without damage.
He finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari. The top four drivers set their laps on the Pirelli ultrasoft rubber in the closing stages of the session.
Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen followed in fifth and sixth respectively, lapping just over six and nine-tenths away from Hamilton’s session-leading time respectively.
Romain Grosjean led the midfield battle in seventh for Haas, just ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Force India.
Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly made it four midfield challengers in the top ten as they ended the session ninth and tenth for Sauber and Toro Rosso respectively.
Robert Kubica meanwhile made his second F1 practice appearance of the season for Williams. The former race winner finished the session eight-tenths away from team-mate Lance Stroll.
Kubica’s programme focussed on essential set-up work rather than all-out lap-time as Williams look to make progress with their difficult FW41 machine.
Renault and McLaren both had subdued sessions, with Carlos Sainz Jr leading Nico Hulkenberg in 13th and 15th places for Renault, while Fernando Alonso could only manage a lowly 17th ahead of McLaren team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne in 18th.
McLaren currently remain under investigation for an unsafe release, as Vandoorne was released into the path of Vettel as the German cruised down the pit lane.
Vettel was able to slow and avoid the McLaren, although the British team will likely receive a fine if penalised.
Vandoorne’s session would get worse however, as his McLaren’s front wing collapsed as he ran wide over the rumble strips on the exit of the final corner.
The impact cracked the front right wing support, causing the component to scrape along the circuit and leave debris in its wake, part of which was left on the exit of the high-speed turn 9 and hit by Pierre Gasly’s Toro Rosso as a result.
Rain drops were reported around the circuit half an hour into the session, although any potential rain shower ultimately failed to materialise and the circuit remained dry.
