Formula 1 Austrian GP FP1 Report: Hamilton on top as kerb incident ends session
- Bevan Youl
Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet for Mercedes yet again in FP1 at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix as Nico Hulkenberg damaged his front wing to end the session slightly early.
Hamilton set a time of 1:04.838 ahead of Sebastian Vettel who managed to split the Mercedes from getting another 1-2 while the Brit pitted after sustaining a small amount of damage to the left side of his front wing.
Vettel spent a decent period of the session in the garage with his cars floor being removed for work.
Valtteri Bottas’ participation in FP1 didn’t look certain at the start as an oil leak in his engine meant that it had to be swapped out for an engine he had been using previously during the season.
He finished third ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari in fourth.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc finished off the top six around five tenths off the pace of Hamilton. Verstappen complained of issues of pace on the straights late in the session.
McLaren showed the pace they displayed in France yet again finishing best of the rest with Carlos Sainz in seventh and Lando Norris in 10th.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was eighth whilst teammate Hulkenberg finished down in 14th.
Kevin Magnussen was the last driver in the top ten in ninth before Norris with his teammate Romain Grosjean in 11th.
The Toro Rosso’s, Sauber’s and Racing Point’s made up the rest of the field with Williams still at the back of the field like we’ve seen before.
The kerbs in Austria played part of FP1 in destroying one half of Hulkenbergs front wing in the last few minutes, ending the session early, while Lance Stroll took a slide on the kerb and gravel mid-way through as well as quite a few other drivers having issues and having to replace their wings.
The drivers were allowed out of the pits after thesession ended but only for practice starts on the main straight.
Tune in late for our liveblog on FP2!