#AustrianGP FP1: @Max33Verstappen pips @Carlossainz55 to top session. #F1

Verstappen Austrian GP FP1 – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pipped Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at the end of session top top the time-sheets in FP1 at the Austrian GP as Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three in the other SF-23 entry.

Reigning world champion Verstappen posted a 1:05.742 on the C4 yellow side-walled medium compounds and was 0.241 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Sainz who set his best effort on the C5 softer rubber and Leclerc was a further 0.270 adrift.

On a warm and sunny afternoon at the Red Bull Ring in the sole practice session before qualifying, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton registered the early benchmark of a 1:09.021, but Verstappen’s 1:08.094 effort soon blew it away as the Dutchman made the most of the early proceedings.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez then jumped to the top of the classification with a 1:07.595, and although the former closed off the opening five minutes with a 1:07.145, the Mexican set a 1:07.111 to continue the Red Bull battle over the fastest time – both running on the C3 white-marked harder tyres.

Verstappen struck back on a 1:06.961 to show Red Bull’s early dominance on their home circuit, but it was disrupted by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who posted a 1:06.656 on the Pirelli C4 yellow side-walled mediums as the moved to the top.

Verstappen then gained another 0.058 to reclaim top spot, before Hamilton improved with a 1:06.416 to move ahead of his 2021 rival.

The order remained stable as the opening 30 minutes drew to a close, although the top five was later interrupted as Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon on softer rubber, following the Grove based-squad’s decision to remain in the garage for the first 20 minutes.

As the session reached it’s final 15 minutes, more teams opted to test the limits of the Red Bull Ring on soft tyres in preparation for the upcoming qualifying session to come.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll moved to second, just 0.134 off of Hamilton’s effort on the harder rubber, but the top three rapidly changed as Ferrari’s Leclerc launched to the top on softs. Perez then jumped up to second on the mediums, before the top two were ousted by Verstappen’s 1:06.084 on the mediums.

Sainz then posted a 1:05.983 on his initial hot-lap on the softs, a tenth quicker than Verstappen, and took the chequered flag as the whole hour reached it’s climax with the Ferrari driver on top.

But Verstappen’s final flyer was good enough to dispose Sainz at the end of FP1, setting a 1:05.742 on the medium tyres following three build-up laps.

Leclerc then jumped into third having beaten Verstappen’s prior effort to sit a very narrow 0.03 seconds behind team-mate Sainz in the classification as Hamilton’s only soft tyre stint was half-a-second adrift of the Dutchman’s time-topping benchmark.

Perez and Stroll followed in fifth and sixth respectively with the former running over debris earlier on in the session, but suffering no damage.

Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen was seventh in the order and in-front of Aston Martin’s Alonso who did not complete a soft tyre run, whilst Mercedes’ George Russell’s ninth-best time was posted on the harder rubber.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu completed the top ten runners.

Williams Racing’s Albon placed outside the top ten in 11th place and ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who was 12th, Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg who took 13th and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas who came 14th in the order.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries ended Free Practice 1 in 15th and 16th respectively with Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant following in 17th.

Alpine F1 Team pairing of Esteban Ocon and Gasly were 18th and 18th respectively as McLaren’s Lando Norris brought up the rear as the latter remained in the pits as the Woking based-team attended to his MCL60 racer.

You can see the full Formula 1 Rolex Grosser Preis Von Osterreich 2023 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1213/austria/practice-1.html

#F1 @Rolex #AustrianGP 2023 Preview. #AustrianGrandPrix #F1SprintWeekend