Max fastest on first day Styrian GP: 'Better than last week'

Published on 10 July 2020 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen topped the leader boards after the first day of practice of the Styrian Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) was second, followed by Racing point’s Sergio Perez. The latter’s team mate, Lance Stroll clocked the fourth quickest time lapping the Red Bull Ring, whilst McLaren’s Carlos Sainz completed the top five.

“It went better than last week", said Max following a busy Friday. "We've made a step in the right direction. But it's too early to say where we are compared to the Mercedes. From our end, we're pretty happy; the balance of the car is better so that's good."

Prior to FP2 starting, Lando Norris has been handed a three-place grid penalty after overtaking another car, Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri, under yellow in the morning session.

The actual start of the second Friday practice is delayed by five minutes due to a red flag in the Formula 3 qualifying session. Once FP2 gets underway, Romain Grosjean (Haas), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and Nicolas Latifi (Williams) are the first drivers out on track in a session that could prove more important than usual; if qualifying is cancelled due to heavy rain, the FP2 results will form the starting grid for Sunday's race.

After the usual flurry of installation laps and opening stints, the first noteworthy event of the session comes after eighteen minutes in the form of a red flag. Daniel Ricciardo has crashed heavily after losing control of his Renault in turn nine. After hitting the barrier rear-first, thankfully, the Australian is able to get out of the car unaided.

After clearing the stricken Renault and after the tyre wall has been put back in place, the session resumes. Soon after, Max tells the team “no power”, referring to a loss of power between fourth and fifth gear. The Dutchman is summoned back to the team, and after a quick visit, he is back on track. 

The RB16 does so on a set of mediums. Max’ pace is impressive, clocking the second fastest time. Only Sergio Perez is quicker at that moment. However, the Mexican set his time on the faster soft Pirellis.

When Max returns to the track at the session’s half way mark, the Red Bull Racer has dropped to sixed in the standings. However, after a purple first, a green second and a third yellow sector, Max climbs to second on a fresh set of Pirelli soft tyres. Unfortunately, he has exceeded the track limits, resulting in the lap time being deleted.

However, Max is not done yet. With thirty minutes on the clock, Max once again attempts a flying lap on a new set of soft tyres. This time, Max stays within the limits and sets the fastest lap of the session.

In the closing stages, the teams shift their attention to long runs with Max doing stints on the medium tyre and team mate Alex Albon even opting for the hard variant. On one of his long runs, Albon causes a yellow flag by leaving the track in between turns seven and eight. After ploughing through some gravel, he returns to the teams.

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Results second free practice Austria: