Formula 1: Red Bull reigns in its land and Verstappen dominates free practice in Austria

With just one free practice session before qualifying (at 12 on Fox Sports and Star +), the riders had to make the most of the session time at the Red Bull Ring. However, no one managed to beat the king of the Austrian circuit on the 11th date of Formula 1. Since the start of free practice with two red flags, Max Verstappen was the best and set the best time: 1: 06.302.

Nobody took this time to get out on the track. All the riders chose the medium tire first and the Dutchman, encouraged by the orange tide of compatriots and fans, took first place, ahead of Fernando Alonso, who surprised with the Alpine.

Sainz and Leclerc, on the other hand, did not find the space to improve the sectors and were relegated, so much so that on the first lap they were respectively 14th and 15th. Although the Spaniard was the first to improve to ninth place, they were far from rush hour.

Something similar happened at Mercedes, where Russell and Hamilton appeared 12th and 13th as the team tried to familiarize themselves with the track and a former driver, such as Valtteri Bottas, moved up to fifth place.

When it seemed that Leclerc had bypassed the Red Bull Ring and moved up to second place, 568 thousandths from Verstappen, the first red flag interrupted the tests.. At 20 minutes, with Lando Norris exiting the pits, the order arrived on McLaren radio. “Turn off the car, turn off the car”, they told him, indicating that there was a fire in the underside of the car even though he couldn’t see it. Finally, everything ended with an engine change for the sprint classification.

There was no action for four minutes and that is why the drivers chose to switch to soft tires in the pits. In the relaunch, Ferrari gave the surprise in a foreign land when Leclerc stopped the clock in 1m06s650 and Carlos Sainz placed himself at 499 thousandths. But the joy lasted only a few seconds, because on his first flying lap Verstappen proved to be the king of the Red Bull Ring, being 348 thousandths faster than the Monegasque (1: 06.302).

The excitement and the fight was interrupted by another red flag. This time due to debris on the track at the exit of Turn 6. Kevin Magnussen’s Haas had raised a membrane and the action, essential because the next activity is qualifying, was stopped with 21 minutes to go. When it was relaunched, it was Mercedes that took advantage and showed the improvements of their car, with Russell third (0.474) and Hamilton fourth (0.607), relegating the winner of the last Grand Prix to Great Britain.

But that wasn’t the end of the training. Two minutes from the gong, Leclerc set a record in sector three and approached 255 thousandths of Verstappen, who confirmed with that 1: 06.302 that he was enough to be the king of the Red Bull Ring, with Russell in third place, 400 Checo Pérez finished fourth with the other Red Bull.

After today’s activity, Saturday will start at 7.30, with the second free practice, and at 11.30 with the short race format that F1 implemented in 2021. Finally, on Sunday, the Austrian Grand Prix will be held from 10 All televised. Star ++, with the exclusive, uncut cameras and Fox Sports.