Austrian GP practice: Vettel fastest, big crash for Rosberg
Sebastian Vettel edged out Ferrari Formula 1 team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to set the pace in final Austrian Grand Prix practice as Nico Rosberg crashed following a suspension failure
Vettel clocked a 1m07.098s on the ultra-softs, 0.136 seconds clear of Raikkonen with Lewis Hamilton just under a tenth further back in third.
Reigning champion Hamilton ran wide at Turn 8 early in the session and radioed his Mercedes team complaining about his rear tyres, which looked to be badly blistered.
After a long stint in the garage, he returned to the track for his qualifying-simulation, but had to abort his run when the session was red-flagged after Rosberg crashed.
The championship leader ran onto the kerbs on the exit of Turn 2 with the left-rear tyre vibrating heavily.
The suspension then appeared to fail, pitching him into the barriers nose-first before he rebounded back onto the track.
Mercedes is investigating the issue and now faces a race to get the car fixed in time for qualifying later on Saturday afternoon.
As Rosberg was unable to complete a low-fuel run at the end of the session, he ended up bottom of the timesheets.
After a 10-minute stoppage, the session restarted with drivers left with just 12 minutes to complete their qualifying-simulations.
Vettel was first to set a lap time and promptly went quickest while Hamilton's first effort was 0.656s off the pace.
After a cool-down lap, Hamilton improved to a 1m07.308s but could not make any further inroads into Vettel's leading time.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was fourth quickest, half a second off the pace but a tenth quicker than team-mate Max Verstappen.
Valtteri Bottas ruined his final run when he pushed too hard into Turn 8 and spun but was still sixth, a fraction ahead of Williams team-mate Felipe Massa.
Nico Hulkenberg, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, who lost a piece of bodywork from his McLaren when he clobbered the aggressive yellow kerbs late in the session, completed the top 10.
PRACTICE THREE TIMES
Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m07.098s | - | 20 |
2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m07.234s | 0.136s | 26 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m07.308s | 0.210s | 20 |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m07.639s | 0.541s | 22 |
5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 1m07.761s | 0.663s | 22 |
6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m07.814s | 0.716s | 23 |
7 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m07.831s | 0.733s | 27 |
8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m08.285s | 1.187s | 23 |
9 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m08.304s | 1.206s | 19 |
10 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1m08.327s | 1.229s | 17 |
11 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m08.442s | 1.344s | 26 |
12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas/Ferrari | 1m08.475s | 1.377s | 22 |
13 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor/Mercedes | 1m08.534s | 1.436s | 29 |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m08.550s | 1.452s | 21 |
15 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1m08.569s | 1.471s | 31 |
16 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m08.786s | 1.688s | 32 |
17 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1m08.939s | 1.841s | 27 |
18 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m09.008s | 1.910s | 11 |
19 | Rio Haryanto | Manor/Mercedes | 1m09.116s | 2.018s | 28 |
20 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m09.137s | 2.039s | 25 |
21 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m09.557s | 2.459s | 20 |
22 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m10.959s | 3.861s | 16 |
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