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Formula 1 Austrian GP

F1 Austrian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & Qualifying

Friday's action from the ninth round of the 2023 Formula 1 season

Views of the track

F1 begins its ninth round this weekend and its second sprint race of the season at the Austrian GP.

It means Friday will see just one free practice session (12:30pm-1:30pm BST) followed by qualifying at 4pm BST that will set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.

Saturday is effectively a standalone event, with sprint qualifying and then the sprint race.

Max Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by 69 points from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez after his fourth win in a row last time out in Canada.

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Norris, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Sainz, Hamilton therefore is our unusual-looking top five, each representing a different team, with Piastri in sixth ahead of Leclerc and Russell.
Perez was second fastest to Verstappen on those first runs, but he too was docked his time, likewise Stroll who had been fourth before all the deletions.
As in Q1, Verstappen just ran a little too wide at the final corner and his right-front wheel went over the white line along with the rest of his car. Norris therefore takes over the top spot ahead of Hulkenberg!
Verstappen becomes the first driver to dip under the 75s mark with a 1m04.955s. But it's then deleted for running too wide at Turn 10!
Now just 15 cars on track to decide who will transfer to the top 10 shootout for pole. We'll get to do all of this again tomorrow, don't forget, as this is a sprint weekend. So if we can forgive the teams for their lack of preparation today after only one practice session, that won't be valid tomorrow.
Green flag
And we're go for Q2.
Cars are queuing at the end of the pitlane with Q2 due to start imminently.
They'll be joined in Q2 by Norris, Alonso, Hamilton, Albon, Piastri, Russell, Stroll, Ocon, Hulkenberg and Bottas.
Fastest in that session was Verstappen on a 1m05.116s, 0.061s ahead of Perez with Ferrari drivers Sainz and Leclerc split by Gasly in fourth.
Tsunoda is eliminated along with Zhou, Sargeant, Magnussen and De Vries.
By the skin of his teeth, Bottas scrapes though in P15, knocking Tsunoda out by 0.021s. Zhou is also unfortunate in 17th, 0.055s behind his team-mate.
Checkered flag
As the checkered flag falls, De Vries and Magnussen will definitely be out in Q1, but who will join them?
Hulkenberg gets himself out of danger! That pushes Bottas into the drop zone.
Piastri won't face any action for potentially impeding Alonso on the exit of the final corner, stewards have confirmed.
Perez allays some doubts by storming up to second.
Time now for the final runs. Norris has moved up to second, and only Verstappen plus the two Ferraris in third and fourth remain in the garage.
Hulkenberg now improves ahead of Albon, but it's only good enough for 16th for the 2009 GP2 champion. Zhou is the man currently on the bubble, Bottas just ahead of him.
Perez has tumbled back to P13 as Stroll gets himself out of danger at Albon's expense. Will he need to go out again to secure himself a spot in Q2?
As Gasly vaults up to seventh, who is in danger? Down in the bottom five currently are Stroll, Ocon, Sargeant, de Vries and Hulkenberg.
Gasly has had a lap reinstated, but it still leaves him down in 18th.
Leclerc is third, then Norris, Alonso, Hamilton and in seventh Piastri - the man who was briefly fastest during the red.
Stopwatch
No sooner had Albon gone fourth quickest than all the leaderboard changed again. Verstappen vaults back to the top on a 1m05.116s, but this time ahead of Sainz on a 1m05.339s.
Gasly, Zhou and Hamilton also appear to have fallen foul of track limits. Could this be one of those days where it becomes a talking point again?
The session resumes. Verstappen's small misjudgement means Piastri for now heads Perez and Magnussen atop the times.
Just before the red flags, Verstappen had his best laptime deleted, and now joins Sainz, Norris, Hulkenberg and Bottas among that group without a time.
Q1 will resume at 17:12 local time, we're told by the FIA. Not much longer to wait.
Bottas's car has now been recovered to the garage. That set of valuable soft tyres will likely have to be junked due to flat spots.
That bit of egg on his face aside, Bottas was yet to complete a lap before the red flag. Hulkenberg, Sainz and Norris are in a similar boat thanks to lap deletions due to track limits infringements.
Replays show the 2020 Austrian GP winner took a chunk of kerb for the right-hander, perhaps distracted by a slow-moving Red Bull on the road ahead of him, when the back end stepped out and the car swapped ends.
Red flag
We've got the red flags out as Bottas has spun at Turn 1 and is struggling to get restarted.
Perez is over seven tenths down on Verstappen after their first efforts, with Piastri's McLaren splitting the two Red Bulls in a boon for McLaren. Early days though still.
Stopwatch
Due to the short lap here, drivers get lots of chances if they mess up a lap or one gets deleted due to track limits. That also means the track may evolve quickly too. Verstappen now goes top on a 1m05.190s.
Stopwatch
It's Kevin Magnussen who logs the first flyer of the session for Haas, a 1m06.006s.
Clearly the Red Bulls are very popular here at what is their home track. Naturally, Red Bull merchandise is everywhere. I made the mistake once of asking for a Diet Coke at the Red Bull Ring and received a look that suggested I had asked for directions to Mars.
Green flag
And we're green for Q1. Several drivers waste no time in taking to the track.
Sun
Air temperature for the session is a hearty 27.9 °C, while track temps sit at 42.9 °C. Nothing to be sniffed at.
Drivers are getting their helmets on with just over five minutes until Q1 gets underway, as we whittle down the field from 20 to 15 drivers that will progress to Q2.
The last driver not called Max Verstappen to take pole in Austria is Lewis Hamilton, back in the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix when the Red Bull Ring hosted two events (as it also did in 2021 when both were claimed by the Red Bull man). On that day, also in wet weather, the Mercedes man topped the times by a whopping 1.21s from Verstappen.

By: Autosport Staff

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