F1 Austrian GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP1 & Sprint Qualifying
Friday's action from the 11th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
The sprint format will be run for the third of six times in 2024 at the Austrian Grand Prix, with drivers being granted only a single practice session to get to grips with the Red Bull Ring and especially the new kerbs.
Max Verstappen heads to Red Bull's home race on the back of successive grand prix victories for the first time since April, but McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes will be hopeful of keeping the pressure on the Dutchman.
First practice will get under way at 11:30BST (12:30 local time), with sprint race qualifying at 15:30BST (16:30 local time).
Live Standings
Summary
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RED FLAG
In good news for Red Bull, Perez is currently in P4 and just one place behind Verstappen. Can he provide Verstappen with assistance across the weekend?
Soft tyres again for Williams. We're not sure if these are still the same set, but with limited rubber available, this would indicate that Williams are not planning on running softs in the sprint race.
Tsunoda has continued to complain about the steering column and has double-checked a change cannot be made during the session. The news, as he feared, was negative and he'll have to live with the problem for now.
We have drivers back on the track, with Russell, Sargeant and Zhou the first back out of the garages.
And with that, all 20 drivers are in the pits. Maybe even a single one hour session is too long for the teams - whisper it quietly!
A new fastest lap for Hamilton with a 1m6.254s. He's 0.1s clear of team-mate Russell on hards, with Verstappen third and 0.4s back on mediums.
We're now entering a brief period of quiet on the track with drivers largely heading into the garages. Only Hamilton and Tsunoda remain on the track.
We're beginning to see the problem that will be in full evidence in sprint race qualifying later on today - traffic. Leclerc was fully blocked by Hulkenberg at Turn 4, before repaying the favour later on.
As we say that, Tsunoda moves up to P14.
RB endured a difficult Spanish Grand Prix weekend despite bringing a large upgrade package and things again look difficult in Austria, with Ricciardo and Tsunoda both currently in the bottom three.
As Verstappen comes into the pits, Russell exits to begin his next run, again on the same set of hard tyres.
Having been relegated to last, Sargeant crosses the line to improve to P11, one place ahead of Albon with a 1m7.806s. That's still more than a second off the pace of those on hards and mediums ahead.
P9 for Albon and P17 for Sargeant on their soft tyres. Unless the engines were turned right down, that will have Williams worried for the rest of the weekend.
Mercedes' return to the front has been impressive in recent weekends, with the introduction of a new front wing in Monaco seeming to be a turning point.
There goes Hamilton, topping things with a 1m6.925s on his sixth lap on the hard tyres.
Williams are the first drivers to fit the soft tyre, with Albon and Sargeant both now taking to the track on the red-walled rubber.
Verstappen briefly goes fastest before Russell goes half a second better with a 1m7.013s. Hamilton's latest effort was hindered by a slow Aston Martin on the racing line at Turn 3.
"I don't like this steering column. It feels weird," reports Tsunoda as he runs off the track at Turn 1.
Aston Martin are wasting no time in completing the usual scrubbing of tyres that they would often do later in the weekend.
The early times are coming in and Russell leads a very early Mercedes 1-2 with a 1m7.932s.
Norris has reported that the steering 'reminds me of Miami' - but that issue seemed to be a relatively simple fox on that occasion.
Verstappen wastes no time in heading out first on medium tyres. Hamilton and Russell start things on hards for Mercedes.
Green light and FP1 is go!
The official risk of rain stands at 20 percent but the mountainous setting often sees weather bubble up seemingly from nowhere.
Not that housekeeping is out of the way, the music has played and it's time to turn our attention to the track, where drops of rain are reported to be falling!
Gasly's signing was certainly an interesting one, and he explained his reasons for the decision despite Alpine being "miles off" early in the season.
There was also then the news of Pierre Gasly signing a new multi-year deal with Alpine and the least surprising news, that Lance Stroll's safest seat in F1 will remain his for "2025 and beyond".
So what has happened this weekend so far? Well, the first thing to mention is the new kerb philosophy to hopefully reduce the number of penalties handed out for track limits violations.
We are preparing for a vital practice session as drivers then head into qualifying for Saturday's sprint race after just the single hour or running.
Good morning and welcome to the Red Bull Ring for first practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.
By: Autosport Staff
