George Russell led the way in FP1 in F1 Austrian GP by a close margin over Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, amid a tight field.
It was mostly clean throughout the FP1 session in F1 Austrian GP at Red Bull Ring, but there were run-off moments for several, where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen had the most at Turn 1 and Turn 4 early in the session. He is without his regular race engineer GianPiero Lambiase, with Simon Rennie filling in.
Teammate Yuki Tsunoda had brake issues as well to take the run-off, with Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman doing the same. The Frenchman caused the yellow flag by going off at Turn 1, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso caused a yellow flag after a spin in the final corner.
He was preparing for a quick lap when he spun on his own due to low tyre temperature. Williams’ Alexander Albon had a moment in the final corner. At the front, Mercedes’ George Russell led the way with a 1m05.542s lap in FP1 in F1 Austrian GP, by 0.065s over Verstappen.
McLaren’s Oscar Pistri was third from FP1 filler Alex Dunne in fourth. The Irishman did a solid job as a rookie to secure a Top 4 finish in his first session. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was fifth from Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, with the Williams pair following in seventh and eighth.
It was Alexander Albon ahead of Carlos Sainz, where the Spaniard set his best time on the medium tyre. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton did not run a lot to be ninth, with a suspected gearbox issue. He dropped Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar to be 10th, as eight different teams featured in the Top 10.
Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli dropped to 11th from Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg as Lance Stroll was the lead Aston Martin in 13th ahead of teammate Alonso, who had to set a time on the tyres he spun on. Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson was 15th from Alpine’s Franco Colapinto.
Tsunoda could only manage 17th, but without the upgrades that Verstappen is running. Another FP1 runner Dino Beganovic was 18th in the Ferrari, as the Haas pair of Ocon and Bearman rounded out the Top 20 runners – where the Top 19 drivers finished within a second of Russell’s time.
In terms of PU elements, Gasly and Ocon opted to take their third ICE along with third TC and MGU-H. Gasly took his fourth MGU-K, while Ocon took his third. Antonelli took his second ES along with a second CE, which Hamilton took as well.
