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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
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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The timing screens report a 20% chance of rain. Austria qualifying has been blighted by the weather before. Who remembers the crazy grid for the 1998 race with Fisichella's Benetton joined on the front row by Alesi's Sauber?
Verstappen took pole for the 2021 and 2022 Austrian Grands Prix, but he missed out on victory in last year's main event after winning the sprint. He was overhauled on that day by Charles Leclerc, in what remains the Ferrari man's most recent victory. Given he took pole at the last sprint round in Baku, can Leclerc turn on the afterburners today?
Earlier on, Max Verstappen left it late to top FP1. Tellingly, he did so on the medium compound tyres, clocking in two tenths quicker than Carlos Sainz's Ferrari with soft rubber.
In case you've been under a rock for the last few hours, here's your reminder that we're running to sprint format rules this weekend; for only the second time this year after Baku. That meant just the one practice session earlier on before the grid is set for Sunday's Grand Prix. Tomorrow we'll have another qualifying session to sort out the order for the sprint race.
Welcome back to our live text coverage. We're a little under 20 minutes away now from what promises to be a frantic qualifying session on one of the shortest laps of the year. You've come to the right place.
We're off for a spot of lunch now, but we'll be back in a few hours ahead of qualifying!
Read the full FP1 report here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-austrian-grand-prix-fp1/10489393/
Qualifying starts at 4pm BST today - who do you think will be on pole?
Checkered flag
That's our only practice session over for today. Next up this afternoon is qualifying to set the grid for Sunday's race
Stopwatch
Verstappen goes quickest with a 1m05.742s, with Sainz and Leclerc in second and third
Alpine have had a tough session - Ocon and Gasly are down in 17th and 18th
Stopwatch
Sainz is next to lead with a 1m05.983s, 0.1s ahead of Verstappen and 0.2s ahead of Leclerc
Lots of drivers have switched onto the soft tyres now for some qualifying simulations
Leclerc topped the timesheet briefly before he was toppled by, you guessed it, Max Verstappen. He sets a 1m06.084s with seven minutes to go
Stopwatch
Lance Stroll has slotted into second for Aston Martin with a 1m06.550s, 0.1s behind Hamilton
15 minutes to go and the order hasn't changed much, with Hamilton still on top ahead of Verstappen
Turn 1 has also proved tricky - since Alonso's earlier wide running, Sainz and Bottas have done the same
Couple of cars running wide at Turn 3 there - Leclerc and Tsunoda
Whoops! Alonso runs a bit wide at Turn 1
Verstappen says he's suffering from understeer due to his front tyres not gripping up
We're almost at the halfway point of the session, and currently Hamilton leads from Verstappen and Alonso. Perez and Albon round off the top five
Here's a photo of the offending flare - let's try and behave a bit better for the rest of the weekend please!
Stopwatch
Hamilton takes the top spot with a 1m06.416s
No need to worry about Albon and Sargeant - Williams says it's following its run plan
Our man on the ground, Grand Prix Editor Alex Kalinauckas, says there is a flare on the grass approaching the final corner. Very sensible behaviour, that...
The Williams pair are still in the garage - Alex Albon has done just two laps, but Sargeant has yet to set any. Is everything okay down there?
Stopwatch
...shortly before Verstappen goes top again, 0.058s ahead of the Spaniard
Stopwatch
The Aston Martin driver takes the top spot with a 1m06.656s
Fernando Alonso will be looking for another strong weekend here in Austria. He first raced at what was then called the A1 Ring in International Formula 3000 in 2000
Perez and Verstappen have traded the top spot several times now, with the Mexican driver now back in front. A familiar picture from this season so far...
Stopwatch
Verstappen goes quickest again (quelle surprise!) with Alonso in second, 0.3s off the lead
Everyone is now out on track, bar the two Williams
Stopwatch
Perez is first into the 1m07s, with a 1m07.595s to lead from his team-mate and Esteban Ocon
Stopwatch
Speaking of Verstappen, that's his first lap on the board - a 1m08.094s
There are a lot of Verstappen fans here this weekend! The grandstands are looking pretty orange
Lots of cars straight out the garages to make the most of limited running this weekend
Green flag
Green light at the end of pitlane and we're away
Max Verstappen has led every lap for the last four F1 races. Can anyone beat him this weekend?
Right, it's time for this weekend's only practice session. Will engineers be able to nail the setups in just one hour? Who will come out on top? Let's find out.
It's looking like a lovely day in Spielberg, with just a 10% chance of rain and an air temperature of 26.6 C
By: Autosport Staff
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