Styria – Free Practice 1: Sergio Perez impressive with his Racing Point

Racing Point and Perez lead the standings

It’s Sergio Perez at the wheel of his pink car who set the fastest time of the session with a 1:04.867. This Racing Point was already performing very well last weekend, but to be ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and the two Mercedes. The Mexican is seven-tenths quicker than in FP1 of the Austrian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, Lance Stroll isn’t going as fast as his experienced teammate, and the Canadian is behind by five-tenths.

The two Mercedes and Alexander Albon’s Red Bull were the only leading drivers to fit medium tires this session, which explains why Bottas in 3rd and Hamilton in 4th are just over two-tenths behind the Racing Point.

New drivers this session

This first free practice session of the Styrian Grand Prix saw two new faces compared to last weekend. One, not yet very familiar to the public, is none other than Jack Aitken. Formerly a member of the Renault academy, the Briton chose to join the Williams training camp, believing that the Grove structure would more easily guarantee him a seat in the top tier of motorsport. Currently 12th in the F2 championship, Aitken was able to test the FW45. A track outing did not go as well as planned due to a mechanical problem forcing him to stop his car after only 15 minutes into the session.

A challenging session for Williams, which also saw their second car suffer from a technical issue, depriving Latifi of almost 1 hour and 15 minutes of the session. Not ideal for the Canadian rookie who still needs to prove himself in the paddock and get accustomed to the Williams.

The other new face this weekend is much more familiar as it is Robert Kubica, who is Alfa Romeo’s test driver. With 97 Grand Prix under his belt, the Polish driver, known for his good technical feedback thanks to his experience, has tried to assist the Swiss-Italian team as best as possible. The team has not succeeded in developing a good car this year. A flawed chassis is not helped by a Ferrari engine considered almost 7 tenths slower than the competition.

Ferrari in search of speed

After a disastrous weekend for the Scuderia, where they quickly realized their car was no longer among the front-runners but in the middle of the pack. Ferrari’s mission this weekend is simple: improve the pace of the car. The Styrian Grand Prix, held at the same circuit as the Austrian race, provides a better opportunity to see the effects of this week’s improvements. A new front wing and a new floor have been introduced to help the SF1000 gain some speed.

Unfortunately, Ferrari is still far from the front. Vettel and Leclerc are 9 tenths behind Perez in 10th and 12th positions respectively. There is still a lot of performance to be found on the Scuderia’s side, but also in the teams powered by the Ferrari engine block. The Alfa Romeos and the Haas are far from the midfield, relegated with the same tires to more than 7 tenths behind cars like McLaren, Renault, or AlphaTauri. Kimi Räikkönen, 15th at the end of the session, is 5 tenths behind Norris’s McLaren, with the Briton finishing only one position ahead of the Finn.

Results of Free Practice 1 of the Styrian Grand Prix