Austrian GP Friday practice
shares
comments
By: Geoff Creighton
Summary
Status: Stopped
Here's the report as it happened; we'll see you back here tomorrow for FP3 and quali! 
The latter half of the field is populated by Magnussen, Perez, Albon, Giovinazzi, Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Stroll, Russell and Kubica.
The top 10 order is Leclerc, Bottas, Gasly, Hamilton, Sainz, Grosjean, Raikkonen, Vettel, Verstappen and Norris.
"I think there's something wrong with the engine" complains Leclerc over the radio. He's not been a massively happy bunny today...
Perez and Gasly also getting close to comfort at T3. "Do your thing, let it go" says Gasly's race engineer. Is this going to break out into a Frozen duet or something? Eurgh.
Leclerc and Giovinazzi almost have a coming together at turn 3, as the Alfa driver didn't seem to see the Ferrari driver in his mirrors.
Sainz has an off at Turn 6! He's lost the line and has a wiggle of oversteer, but manages to escape the clutches of the gravel and gets going again.
There's just under 15 minutes left in the session, and it's been relatively plain sailing so far. The timing boards are full of yellow sectors, apart from one hanging green sector clocked by Bottas prior to his shunt.
The Renault wing continues to flutter around with DRS open like a slightly manic butterfly. That's not only reducing the DRS's effectiveness by creating some airflow buffeting, but looks like an accident waiting to happen.
Some longer soft tyre runs, as the red-walled rubber is being assessed for its race day merits. In France, only a couple of drivers chose to run them, but here it'll probably be much more of a factor.
In amongst the madness, we've neglected to mention that Leclerc is currently top of the standings - clear of Bottas and Gasly.
That wind seems to be catching everyone out today - there's not been a practice session as eventful as this in a long, long time.
This is more like The Sims than qualifying sims at the moment. All sorts of interruptions, incidents...but at least nobody's deleted any swimming pool ladders.
Another red flag, then - completely lost the rear at Turn 6 and goes across the gravel into the wall. You don't see that a lot...
As it stands then, it's like this: 1. Bottas, 2. Hamilton, 3. Sainz, 4. Leclerc, 5. Grosjean, 6. Vettel, 7. Verstappen, 8. Norris, 9. Magnussen, 10. Perez.
The only running on track now, surprisingly, is Verstappen. He's ditched the scooter and he's jogging to the garage, waving off the medical car.
Verstappen just lost the rear at the apex of the last corner, and the Dutchman went into the wall backwards. That's his day done.
Session suspended, then - that's heavy damage on the back of that Red Bull. Verstappen's out of the car.
Grosjean's up to fourth, aping his finishing position here last year. The odds on a repeat are significantly higher this time, but this circuit's always been a haas-ppy hunting ground.
Plenty of impromptu rhinoplasties this weekend, as the drivers are frequently damaging those noses and wings in the sausage kerbs. Not to be confused with rhino pasties, which are...pasties, made from rhino-meat.
Hamilton changes the top of the order to a Merc 1-2, dropping in a tenth behind Bottas. But Verstappen's about to begin some quali sims...
Gasly takes a trip into the gravel, as we get a shot of Hulkenberg's DRS flap flapping about like it's trying to take off. A quick aerodynamics analysis: it's not supposed to do that. You know it's not supposed to do that.
Trending
Latest news
McLaren "surprised" by China F1 race pace after sprint struggles
Chinese GP
McLaren "surprised" by China F1 race pace after sprint struggles
Could Acosta get a Verstappen-like mid-season promotion to KTM in MotoGP 2024?
Spanish GP
Could Acosta get a Verstappen-like mid-season promotion to KTM in MotoGP 2024?
Manthey on Porsche defending DTM title: “Don’t think they’ll allow that”
Oschersleben
Manthey on Porsche defending DTM title: “Don’t think they’ll allow that”
Top Comments