Styrian Grand Prix: Max P2 in opening practice

Published on 10 July 2020 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen finished the first practice session of the Styrian Grand Prix in second place. Quickest around the Red Bull Ring was Sergio Perez in the Racing Point. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) completed the top three.

FP1 is the first session that features Max and his special red, white and blue helmet. Additionally, Jumbo sponsoring can be seen on the RB16’s nose and barge boards, exclusively for this Grand Prix weekend.

A couple of new and old faces make an appearance this morning. Robert Kubica is driving the Alfa Romeo, instead of Antonio Giovinazzi, and Jack Aitken occupies George Russel’s seat at Willians during FP1. Esteban Ocon is the first driver out on track, soon followed by most of the others for their installation laps.

Twenty minutes in, Max clocks his first lap of the day. His first attempt on the medium Pirelli tyre is the fastest lap until that point. Soon after, the session is red flagged; Nicolas Latifi’s Williams is stranded on track with engine issues.

After the circuit is cleared, Max is straight out the box and improves his lap time. Kevin Magnussen is the only driver to have not set a time. The Dane’s Haas is being worked on by his mechanics in an attempt to fix a battery problem.

Charles Leclerc is the first driver to bank a serious lap time on the soft Pirelli tyres. Nevertheless, he falls a tenth short of Max’ quickest lap on the mediums.

At the halfway mark, the Mercedes head out the mediums. Both Hamilton and Bottas go quicker than Max as the Mercs top the standings. Soon after, Sergio Perez sets a lap that proves to be the fastest of the morning. The Mexican’s 1:04.867 is completed on the soft tyre.

As Max remains in the pits, he gradually drops down the order. However, a flying lap on the soft Pirellis with 30 minutes to go, propels Max back near the top of the timing sheets, P2 to be precise. Only Sergio Perez is quicker around the Red Bull Ring.

In the closing stages, it appears that Mercedes is not wanting to show their true pace. Instead of a stint on the softs, both Bottas and Hamilton venture out on the mediums for some extra track time.

The session ends with a spin in turn 3, courtesy of Daniil Kvyat in the Alpha Tauri.

Enter our Verstappen.com competition with a chance to win a special Red Bull Racing Austria 2020 cap!

Results first free practice Austria: