GP2 Austria: Sergey Sirotkin tops Red Bull Ring practice
Sergey Sirotkin topped the opening free practice session for the fourth round of the GP2 championship in Austria


The Rapax driver lapped the Red Bull Ring in a time of 1m14.880s to prevail in a battle at the top of the timesheets with Russian Time's Mitch Evans and ART's McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne.
All three had spells at the top of the times, as did DAMS driver Pierre Gasly, before Sirotkin reclaimed the top spot he held early on with 18 minutes remaining.
That put him three-tenths ahead of Evans, with Vandoorne a further 22-thousandths back.
By then many had enjoyed the best of the tyres, with a red flag caused by Gasly grinding to a halt on track with a car problem hindering some drivers' attempts to improve, although there were some late fast laps
Alexander Rossi jumped into fourth place ahead of Alex Lynn with 90 seconds remaining.
Raffaele Marciello also had a late attempt to improve, but fell four-tenths short, so ended up in sixth place ahead of Gasly.
Rio Haryanto, Arthur Pic and Nick Yelloly rounded out the top 10, with Jordan King and Richie Stanaway sealing 11th and 12th places late in the session.
GP2 returnee Simon Trummer was slowest after taking over Johnny Cecotto's place at Hilmer Motorsport, the Swiss settling back into the category having competed at Le Mans last weekend for the ByKolles CLM LMP1 squad.
PRACTICE TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sergey Sirotkin | Rapax | 1m14.880s | - | 26 |
2 | Mitch Evans | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m15.201s | 0.321s | 21 |
3 | Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 1m15.223s | 0.343s | 23 |
4 | Alexander Rossi | Racing Engineering | 1m15.272s | 0.392s | 17 |
5 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 1m15.279s | 0.399s | 24 |
6 | Raffaele Marciello | Trident | 1m15.407s | 0.527s | 22 |
7 | Pierre Gasly | DAMS | 1m15.503s | 0.623s | 19 |
8 | Rio Haryanto | Campos Racing | 1m15.568s | 0.688s | 23 |
9 | Arthur Pic | Campos Racing | 1m15.569s | 0.689s | 21 |
10 | Nick Yelloly | Hilmer Motorsport | 1m15.678s | 0.798s | 23 |
11 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 1m15.692s | 0.812s | 21 |
12 | Richie Stanaway | Status Grand Prix | 1m15.701s | 0.821s | 23 |
13 | Rene Binder | Trident | 1m15.710s | 0.830s | 24 |
14 | Andre Negrao | Arden International | 1m15.736s | 0.856s | 22 |
15 | Daniel de Jong | MP Motorsport | 1m15.817s | 0.937s | 23 |
16 | Robert Visoiu | Rapax | 1m15.971s | 1.091s | 25 |
17 | Marco Sorensen | Carlin | 1m16.069s | 1.189s | 25 |
18 | Norman Nato | Arden International | 1m16.073s | 1.193s | 23 |
19 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1m16.099s | 1.219s | 24 |
20 | Julian Leal | Carlin | 1m16.236s | 1.356s | 22 |
21 | Zoel Amberg | Daiko Team Lazarus | 1m16.343s | 1.463s | 22 |
22 | Marlon Stockinger | Status Grand Prix | 1m16.422s | 1.542s | 22 |
23 | Nathanael Berthon | Daiko Team Lazarus | 1m16.582s | 1.702s | 13 |
24 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m16.701s | 1.821s | 20 |
25 | Simon Trummer | Hilmer Motorsport | 1m16.878s | 1.998s | 20 |

Ferrari junior Raffaele Marciello wants GP2 to review VSC procedure
Red Bull Ring GP2: McLaren ace Stoffel Vandoorne takes record pole

Latest news
Porsche aims to “learn quick” from Daytona 24 Hours disappointment
Porsche’s director of factory racing Urs Kuratle says his team will gain valuable answers from its disappointing results in the Daytona 24 Hours.
Ferrari: Claims of 30hp F1 engine step for 2023 "a joke"
Ferrari has labelled rumours of a 30hp leap in engine performance this year as a "joke", amid growing intrigue about the steps that Formula 1 manufacturers have made for 2023.
Deletraz switches from Prema to TF Sport for ELMS title defence
Two-time European Le Mans Series champion Louis Deletraz will leave Prema to join the TF Sport-run Racing Team Turkey for his third campaign in the championship this season.
Beating Pro cars at Daytona "cherry on the cake" for GTD-winning Aston team
Beating the GTD Pro entries en-route to winning the Daytona 24 Hours GTD class was "an extra cherry on the cake" for Heart of Racing Aston Martin driver Ian James.
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
The ladder to F1 never gets any less slippery. But a strong cast of Formula 3 and Formula 2 aces proved sure of foot as they continued their climbs in 2022
The next steps for France's latest F1 hopeful after an F2 title miss
Theo Pourchaire entered the 2022 Formula 2 season a firm favourite for the title after remaining with ART Grand Prix for a second season. But an unexpected charge from Felipe Drugovich and MP Motorsport meant the Frenchman was forced to settle for second. What went wrong for the Sauber protege, and where does he go from here?
The remarkable career turnaround of an ever-improving F2 talent
Sixth in the F2 standings heading into this month's final round, but within touching distance of third, Enzo Fittipaldi has quietly put together a strong first full season in the Formula 1 support series, recovering well from the scary Jeddah start crash that cut his 2021 campaign short. It marks a turn in fortunes for the Brazilian who thought he'd bid hopes of a career in Europe goodbye two years ago
What the future holds for two Red Bull juniors fighting in the F2 battleground
Despite having two talented drivers, albeit at very different stages of their careers, Prema Racing has had mixed fortunes in FIA Formula 2 this year. Both drivers told Autosport how they rate their seasons so far – and their next steps beyond 2022
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
The on-form F1 protege carrying America's hopes on his shoulders
Two feature race wins in as many rounds have helped Logan Sargeant to emerge as the closest challenger to runaway Formula 2 points leader Felipe Drugovich. The Williams F1 junior couldn't have timed his rise better, with interest in grand prix racing on the rise in his US homeland, and he could be his country's best shot at getting a driver on the grid for the first time since 2015
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
The other Doohan charting his way to motorsport success
Heading into FIA Formula 2 this season, there was a lot of pressure on Jack Doohan. The 2021 F3 runner-up joined a new team for his next challenge, as well as signing up to the Alpine Academy. He told Autosport how he’s tackling the step up - with some help from his motorcycle legend father
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.