Verstappen heads Leclerc as Norris breaks down in Austria F1 practice
| F1 Live | F1 Replay | F1 Standings |
The reigning world champion, who has won four of the last six races at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, finished 0.255s clear of Ferrari’s Leclerc in the hour-long first practice, which was interrupted by two red flags caused by a stoppage for Lando Norris and debris on track. George Russell ended up just 0.4s off Verstappen’s timesheet-topping time in the W13 which was upgraded last time out at Silverstone, with Sergio Perez splitting the Mercedes drivers with a late improvement to go fourth. Four times The Halo SAVED an F1 driver | F1 2022 .NetVideo of Four times The Halo SAVED an F1 driver | F1 2022 .NetClick to subscribeNever miss a video from Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get the latest reviews, interviews and moreLewis Hamilton was two-tenths of a second behind teammate Russell and 0.607s behind Verstappen in fifth. Kevin Magnussen took sixth place in his Haas, ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who set his best lap time on the medium compound tyre.Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10 for Haas and AlphaTauri respectively. Related F1 increase budget cap and delay flexi-floor rule – does it suit Red Bull most? F1 2022 Austrian Grand Prix – Free Practice Results (1) Dismal session for McLaren It was a nightmare start to the weekend for McLaren, with Norris stopping on track after reporting an engine issue on his car. The Briton had earlier said he was stuck in ‘limp home mode’ at the beginning of the session. As a result of his stoppage, which caused the first red flag around 40 minutes in, Norris ended up slowest of all in 20th. FP1 went little better for McLaren teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who was only 17th-fastest after encountering a DRS issue on his car. It leaves McLaren with a lot of work to do ahead of qualifying on Friday afternoon, with Austria hosting the second sprint race of the season. Related Alonso is “very confused” – Do the drivers understand F1’s racing rules? Verstappen in snarky Hamilton reply: ‘When you’re 37 years old – he does learn!’The teams have more hour-long practice session on Saturday morning before the 24-lap sprint to set the order for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
For motorsport news follow TRmotosports on social media.
