Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen headed the FP2 standings in F1 Styrian GP as Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo declared fit after a heavy shunt.
Despite having one if his lap times deleted due to track limits, Red Bull’s Verstappen headed the FP2 session with a 1m03.660s in F1 Styrian GP with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas (1m03.703s) and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez (1m03.877s) rounded the Top 3.
The other Racing Point of Lance Stroll (1m04.241s) did well to be fourth with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (1m04.333s) in fifth and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m04.348s) only sixth. The Brit did not have the best of times and needed a mid-session set-up change.
Red Bull’s Alexander Albon (1m04.437s) slotted in seventh after multiple spins for the Thai F1 racer. The first one at Turn 3 with the second one at Turn 8, where he spun onto the gravel. McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m04.541s) was eighth.
The Brit has a three-place grid penalty for overtaking under the yellow in FP1. The Top 10, meanwhile, was completed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m04.706s) and Renault’s Esteban Ocon (1m04.746s) as AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m04.757s) just missed on it.
Teammate Daniil Kvyat (1m05.050s) was 12th but it wasn’t a smooth run for the two, where the Frenchman was heard blasting on the radio amid a team play to get tow. The two Alfa Romeo Racing drivers followed the two AlphaTauri cars.
It was Kimi Raikkonen (1m05.152s) in 13th from Antonio Giovinazzi (1m05.365s) with Williams’ George Russell (1m05.588s) doing a superb job to be 15th and ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (1m05.613s), who struggled to string a lap amid several lap deletions.
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m05.655s) slotted in 17th ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m05.790s), who had a new battery fitted onto his car, while teammate Romain Grosjean (1m06.096s) only managed 19th after his laps were deleted.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the standings with no time set after crashing heavily at Turn 9-10 sequence. He lost the rear and smashed onto the tyre barrrier and was seen limping when out of the car. He was declared fit upon medical visit.
Elsewhere, the F1 teams were also taking the FP2 session as the qualifying for Styrian GP due to the massive thunderstorm prediction for Saturday. There is a chance of it happening on Sunday morning but if not then FP2 times would be taken to set the grid.
Here’s how FP1 panned out in F1 Styrian GP