SPIELBERG, Austria – Max Verstappen swept the opening two practices for the Formula One Styrian Grand Prix Friday at the Red Bull Ring.
The Formula One championship leader set the fastest time of the day during the second session, topping the charts with a quick lap of 1:05.412 aboard his Red Bull Racing. However, Lewis Hamilton had a fastest lap during the second practice that was deleted due to a track limits violation, so the practice charts are slightly misleading.
“Overall it’s been quite a good day for us and although there are a few things to look into, which is very normal for a Friday, I am quite happy with where the car is at the moment,” said Verstappen. “In the second practice Lewis had a faster lap time that was deleted so it looks a bit different to what is shown at the moment on the timesheets but we expect to see both teams at the top. The weather forecast looks like it is changing all the time, so let’s see what it is actually like tomorrow, but I think it will be a very tight battle again.”
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was second fastest, .336 seconds off Verstappen’s best lap. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was third, followed by Mercedes’ Hamilton and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso.
Other than a few spins on track, the only major incident of practice saw Valtteri Bottas spin his Mercedes in the pits after leaving his stall following a tire change. Bottas managed to avoid contact with the pit walls and crews and thanks to some help from the McLaren team, he was able to get his car pointed back in the right direction.