Austria – Free Practice 1: Hamilton ahead of Bottas, Mercedes already dominates

Just over 7 months after the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the first official return of Formula 1 was dominated by the Mercedes team. As favorites, the W11, all in black in support of the anti-racism movement Black Lives Matter, took the top spot on the timing sheets, with Lewis Hamilton behind the wheel.

Hamilton and Bottas alone in the world

The six-time world champion set the benchmark at 1:04.816 on red-banded soft tires. Mercedes’ domination is complete, with Valtteri Bottas in second place, three-tenths of a second behind (+0.356”). The Finn led the opening minutes with an initial time of 1:07.500 on hard tires, before relinquishing the lead to Lewis Hamilton. Equipped with the famous DAS on the steering wheel, the Mercedes W11 widened the gap on the competition: a six-tenth lead over Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, in third place.

First car to hit the track in this FP1, the McLaren showed promising performance, with Carlos Sainz in 4th place and Lando Norris in 6th, the first driver overall to set a time in the session (1:10.251).

All in pink, Pérez’s Racing Point finished the session in 5th position, despite a rushed return to the pits after an oil leak, 40 minutes into the session. Smoke was coming out from the back of the engine. Paradoxically, Mercedes had introduced a new development… focused on reliability.

UPDATE:

We saw some smoke on TV
We pitted as precaution
We took a sidepod off
We did some investigating
We found nothing of concern
We sent @SChecoPerez back out
We posted a tweet about it#WeRaceAsOne #F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/AVAlt6elIJ

— BWT Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) July 3, 2020

On a track that was slightly wet at the start but dry later, the drivers were very cautious, initially using intermediate tires during the first half-hour, before switching to slick tires, soft, medium, and hard.

Leclerc and Vettel over a second apart

In difficulty on the aerodynamic front, the Ferrari drivers finished the session with times in the middle of the standings. Charles Leclerc 10th ahead of Sebastian Vettel 12th, who is celebrating his 33rd birthday today, but did not use the soft tires in FP1. Both are over a second behind Lewis Hamilton!

More than 18 months after his last F1 race, Esteban Ocon secured 13th place for Renault. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo is a bit higher, in 8th, a full second behind Hamilton.

For his return, Romain Grosjean encountered brake problems during his first laps on the track. The Haas driver couldn’t complete any timed laps but still took to the track at the very end of the session. The third Frenchman on the grid, Pierre Gasly, finished his FP1 in a modest 16th place. His teammate Daniil Kvyat had a scare with a spin in the final corner of the circuit, right in front of George Russell’s Williams.

Two very different racing lines through the final corner ????

George Russell gets a front-row seat as Pierre Gasly gets a little out of shape#AustrianGP ???????? #F1 pic.twitter.com/ezhk66W7pO

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 3, 2020

Rather calm, the first free practice session was not marked by a major off-track incident. Track modification, the protective curbs have been removed in the penultimate and last turn of the Red Bull Ring. They are replaced by electronic sensors, which cancel the drivers’ lap times if they are crossed… Lance Stroll notably fell victim to this in FP1!

Here is the complete ranking of this first free practice session:

Join us later around 4:30 PM for the summary of the second free practice session!