Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest in F1 Styrian GP FP2 after rain did not hurt the session, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo P2 and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon P3.
There was a bit of rain in the air at the start of F1 Styrian GP FP2 but it didn’t hurt the teams enough as the predicted risk of 80 percent didn’t happen, with the sun shining at Red Bull Ring. Despite using soft tyres in FP1, teams had one set for qualifying trim.
Red Bull’s Verstappen (1m05.412s) ended up the fastest again, but this time from McLaren’s Ricciardo (1m05.748s), while Alpine’s Ocon (1m05.790s) ended up third in a different Top 3 than normal, with track limits still playing a big role.
It was again Turn 9 and Turn 10, where most of the drivers had their laps deleted. Early on, the slippery track caught many out but later on, they were adjusted to it, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m05.796s) was fourth from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m05.827s).
It was a good show from Aston Martin, with Sebastian Vettel (1m05.934s) in sixth and Lance Stroll (1m06.079s) eighth, with McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m05.994s) seventh in the middle – the German and the Canadian set their lap, a little later in the session.
The Top 10 was then rounded out by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m06.089s) and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi (1m06.145s), with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz missing out in 11th from Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
There was spin from Sainz early in the session on the gravel, while Leclerc had a moment with his visor, which got stuck on his rear wing. Bottas, meanwhile, spun in the pitlane after his stop due to wheelspin, with McLaren mechanics not far off from the scene.
McLaren alerted for the same to FIA Race Director Michael Masi, as it was very close shave, with the incident under investigation, thenafter. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen returned to action in FP2 of F1 Styrian GP, as he ended up 14th from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ George Russell.
The Haas duo came next with Mick Schumacher in 17th from Nikita Mazepin, who spun at Turn 5 after putting his tyre on the gravel. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi was 19th after his heavy spin at Turn 6, where he went over the grass, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly did not run after Honda found some issues with his power unit.
#F1 #StyrianGP That looked silly. Bottas. #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/1IN9IwNhWf
— #MsportXtra (@MsportXtra) June 25, 2021
Valtteri Bottas spins in the pit lane after being released
He does very well to keep the car under control and avoid the barriers. He's helped by the McLaren team and he's now back on track#StyrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/bRoftghlqA
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 25, 2021
Results: https://twitter.com/F1/status/1408426700078206980?s=20
UPDATE: For the pitlane spin for Bottas, the stewards deemed it as dangerous driving and handed him a three-place grid drop fro F1 Styrian GP. The Finn noted that they tried a new thing in the pit stop to decrease their pace loss and he left the box in second gear, which resulted in a wheelspin and a spin.
Bottas also got two points on his superlicense. “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 77 (Valtteri Bottas) and team representatives and reviewed video evidence. When BOT pulled away from his designated pit stop position, he lost control of the car when he turned into the fast lane. He oversteered, spun and came to a stop across the fast lane near the McLaren pits.
“During the hearing BOT stated that in the past they have been losing time in the pit departure. So they tried something new, which was to leave in second gear. As a result, the wheel spin was much higher and the result unexpected. Therefor he didn’t manage to control the car properly into the fast lane. This has to be considered as potentially dangerous driving, especially as personnel were around in the pit lane.”
Here’s how FP1 of F1 Styrian GP panned out