Marking the Austrian territory, Max Verstappen scored the best time in the first tests at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, the track of his team. The Dutchman left the two Ferraris, who were wearing the softest tires, by 2 tenths. A difference that should be greater in equal compounds in the classification (at 5:00 p.m.).
Lewis Hamilton was dominating the only free practice session of the Austrian GP ahead of Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, by 2 tenths. The Englishman, in good form, after two consecutive podiums (2nd in Barcelona and 3rd in Canada), set his best time on hard tyres. The Dutch and the Spanish did it with means.
With 10 minutes remaining in the session, the best times rushed, as most of them put on the soft tires to test the qualifying laps. Leclerc was the first to storm first place on new soft tires. Verstappen succeeded him with means. And then Sainz with the softs took the top of the table, with a tenth over Red Bull.
However, with the clock running to zero, Verstappen imposed his rule and took the first half of the training session with a 241 thousandth advantage over Sainz and 270 over Leclerc. Hamilton remained in fourth place (at 0.5s) and Alonso was eighth, at 914 thousandths.
Only Verstappen, Pérez (5th) and Alonso had set their best lap on the medium compound; the rest he did with soft. A sign that the different trio has a good rhythm, rubbing shoulders with the riders who wore softer tires more suitable for classification.
