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Formula 1
Austrian GP
F1 Austrian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Live updates from Friday practice at the Red Bull Ring
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The top men are now all on mediums and Hamilton uses them to briefly move up to second behind Bottas - but it's all change as Verstappen then goes top and Raikkonen flies up to third, pushing Hamilton back to fourth.
Leclerc has already had one laptime deleted for running wide at Turn 9, and now has a huge oversteer moment on corner entry that he does well to save - remember Daniel Ricciardo had a shunt there last year in the Renault. The car slews sideways, but he just prevents it from going into the gravel and rejoins without any damage beyond maybe a flat-spot.
Alonso is the first man to put the soft tyres to use and moves up to fourth on a 1m05.917s. George Russell, who also sat out FP1 for Roy Nissany, has also put on a set of the C5 soft tyres which weren't used last week.
And we have a new name at the top of the leaderboard. Bottas takes over from Verstappen with a 1m05.602s, putting him a shade over a tenth clear.
Now Gasly moves up to second on the mediums - that's a very good lap from the AlphaTauri driver, who posts a 1m05.866s.
Perez was languishing down in 13th after the early runs, but he now moves up to P4 with a 1m05.958s, albeit still two tenths down on Verstappen.
Only three drivers in the top 10 currently (Tsunoda, Gasly and Vettel) have set their times on mediums, with the rest all using the Silverstone prototype tyre. Bottas though has just put on a set of mediums for his second run as he seeks to knock Verstappen off top spot.
Gasly is another to have a time deleted for a Turn 9 transgression. That would have moved him up from fifth to fourth, ahead of Hamilton.
Not wanting the Finnish veteran to be left out, Mazepin follows suit in having a lap deleted for running wide at Turn 9.
Prior to that lap from Bottas, Raikkonen (who was in the 2001 Austrian GP, we should add - he finished fourth) had moved up to P4 but has his 1m06.170s deleted for track limits at Turn 10.
Tsunoda's grip on second doesn't last long though, as Bottas blasts into P2 on a 1m05.927s.
Verstappen's time was set on the Silverstone prototype tyre - a new rear construction with a stiffer sidewall - which teams are trialling in response to the Baku failures. Second-placed Tsunoda is 0.163s adrift on the medium.
Interestingly, Verstappen was fastest in sectors two and three, but it was Raikkonen who went quickest through the first - predominantly straight - sector.
The risk of rain for the session is 60%, which may have something to do with it. Styrian GP winner Verstappen is the first man to set a representative time, a 1m05.773s and goes fastest.
All 20 cars are now out on track - that makes a remarkable change from FP2s of old, doesn't it?
Immediately the track is busy, with Carlos Sainz Jr leading out Nicholas Latifi and Fernando Alonso - who had to sit out FP1 for Zhou.
Green flag
Here we go then, FP2 is underway!
And if you need any further reading before the session gets underway, why not bookmark Oleg Karpov's chat with Daniel Ricciardo? Despite awarding himself only a 5/10 for his on-track performances this year, he still believes he can make a success of his McLaren switch: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/why-5-10-ricciardo-isnt-giving-up-on-his-mclaren-quest/6623888/
In case you missed it yesterday, here's Luke Smith's take what we can expect from the softer tyres the teams are using this weekend: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/will-softer-tyres-shake-up-the-f1-order-in-austria-this-weekend/6623259/
One of the factors that made 2001 such a memorable race was the fast-degrading tyres on Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams, which meant he came under heavy pressure from the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris behind. Tyres are again set to be a big talking point this weekend, with compounds one step softer than at last week's Styrian GP.
The Austrian Grand Prix always conjures up happy memories for me - it was the first races I remember watching in 2001, when Jos Verstappen briefly held second in the Arrows and four (yes, four!) cars stalled on the grid. Naturally, it was my pick for our 2020 lockdown series, My Favourite Race: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-day-montoya-refused-to-give-up-5113727/5113727/
Welcome back to Autosport's Live coverage from the Red Bull Ring as we gear up for FP2 in just under 10 minutes time.
Action will continue later today with FP2 scheduled for 1400 BST. Join us then for more live updates.
Despite two wild spins Stroll emerged as the top Aston Martin in P13.
Zhou turned heads in his maiden F1 grand prix weekend session. The Chinese driver was P14 in the Alpine only 0.4s behind team-mate Esteban Ocon. Ilott ended up in P16 for Alfa Romeo with Nissany P18 for Williams.
Perez could only manage P8 in the sister Red Bull as Gasly (AlphaTauri) and Norris (McLaren) rounded out the top 10.
Tsunoda impressed to claim P5 after a trip to gravel trap early on. Kimi Raikkonen produced a solid effort to end up P6 ahead of Hamilton.
Bottas is the top Mercedes in P4 while Hamilton was P7, some 0.5s shy of Verstappen.
Drivers are conducting practice starts before returning to the pits.
Verstappen was 0.266s faster than Ferrari's Leclerc with the sister Ferrari of Sainz in third.
Verstappen tops FP1 for Red Bull. The championship leader ends the session with a 1m05.143s.
Checkered flag
Chequered flag is out for FP1.
Verstappen has completed the most laps in this session with 34 in the books.
Leclerc waves to his onboard rear facing camera after realising he is on the big screens. Impressive effort!
Bottas now locks up and runs wide at Turn 1 on the softs.
Hamilton is the latest to run wide at Turn 1. It appears to be catching out a few drivers today.
Leclerc has snatched his right front again, this time at Turn 3.
Interestingly Perez is unable to get in the same ball park as Red Bull team-mate Verstappen. The Mexican is P8 and 0.6s away from Max.
Bottas has also shaved some time from his personal best to sit P4.
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