EL1 in Austria: Mercedes double, Verstappen in ambush

The best Red Bull de Max Verstappen follows by just a tenth. The usual suspects occupy the first 6 places in Free Practice 1 as Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), and Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) then emerge in that order. Note that all the big names were riding on Ultra-Tendres when it came time to test the time.

The honorary place of best of the rest goes to Romain Grosjean at the wheel of a Haas paved with Super-Soft rubbers. The Frenchman takes his compatriot’s Force India in his wake Esteban Ocon. The second half of the Top 10 also has a French accent since Charles Leclerc (Sauber) and Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) are in 9th and 10th place respectively.

Marcus Ericsson confirms Sauber's progress by lifting his C37 to 11th position. Discreet session on the other hand for Renault : Carlos Sainz et Nico Hulkenberg, who benefit from an improved MGU-K this weekend, are 13th and 15th with Sergio Pérez (Force India) sandwiched between the two. However, the RS18s rarely panic the clock on Friday before showing more bite from Saturday.

In light of the first 8 weekends of the season, the same cannot really be said of McLaren et Williams. The two historic British teams continue to occupy the depths of the rankings. Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne occupy 17th and 18th ranks, behind Lance stroll.

Back in action after Spain, Robert Kubica (Williams) brings up the rear more than 2,5 seconds behind the reference time ofHamilton.

Will these first trends be confirmed in Free Practice 2? First response information from 15:00 p.m.

FP1 CLASSIFICATION: A perfect start for Mercedes #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rwGaj9IqLB

— Formula 1 (@F1) 29th June 2018