Here we are fellow F1 fanatics, the second part of the first triple header in the sport’s history. This is the F1 Newsbites Austrian GP Edition!

 

 

Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 in FP2

 

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton once again leaded a Mercedes one-two at the Austrian GP in the afternoon Free Practice Two session as the Silver Arrows brought a heavily packaged update to their W09 EQ Power+ racers.

 

Hamilton hit the top of the time-sheets early in the afternoon setting a benchmark of a 1:04.579 on the yellow-branded soft compounds.

 

Although the Briton did use the ultrasofts later on, Hamilton was unable to improve but done enough to keep top spot.

 

His Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas took second place in the earlier stages of the session on the red-walled supersofts, and later improved by 0.012s on ultras to finish 0.176 seconds behind Hamilton.

 

Later in the hour and a half long session, Hamilton reported massive understeer whilst on a race simulation with the ultras.

 

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel wound up in third place, gaining just over a tenth of a second after switching the softs for ultras and was 0.236 seconds adrift of Hamilton’s benchmark.

 

This put the German ahead of both Red Bull RB14’s of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen who were split by a tenth of a second from each other.

 

Ricciardo’s effort was set on supersofts while Verstappen’s was a minor improvement on ultras.

 

Kimi Raikkonen was the slowest of the big three, 0.140 seconds off the Dutchman.

 

The Finn could not find an improvement on his early ultrasoft run, which included an off-track excursion at turn three locking up, but managed to bounce back with a better time at the end.

 

The Haas F1 Team pairing of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were best of the rest in seventh and eighth respectively, with Grosjean just 0.164 seconds off of Raikkonen.

 

Magnussen had an off track moment at turn four, running wide into the gravel trap, and wound up a tenth off of his team-mate.

 

The Dane ran wide later on at turn nine, losing some bodywork off of his Ferrari-powered VF-18, and the dramatic session continued as he was forced to stop the car in pit-lane after he was released with a loose front-right wheel.

 

Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly ended the day ninth quickest despite going off the track at the final corner hitting the yellow sausage-kerbs and sustaining suspension damage.

 

His STR13 was stuck in the gravel, which brought out the red flag for five minutes as his car was cleared.

 

McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne rounded out the top 10, 1.351 seconds off of Hamilton’s quick time and finished ahead of Renault’s Carlos Sainz who was 11th fastest with the Spaniard also finding trouble among others at the downhill turn four, suffering a massive lock up and running into the gravel.

 

Sainz was a tenth quicker than Sauber’s Charles Leclerc who took 12th place in the session, with Force India’s Esteban Ocon finishing 13th.

 

The other Sauber of Marcus Ericsson also took a trip through the gravel at turn three after a small lock up, but ended FP2 in 14th in-front of Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault RS-18.

 

Williams Martini Racing’s Sergey Sirotkin who missed the morning session due to reserve driver Robert Kubica’s outing in the FW41, concluded the day 16th quickest.

 

Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley and Force India’s Sergio Perez ended the day in 17th and 18th respectively.

 

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso endured a difficult afternoon, changing the floor of his MCL33 after sustaining damage on his initial run.

 

The Spaniard wound up at the rear with Williams’ Lance Stroll, who suffered an off-track trip at turn 10.

 

Hamilton and Bottas satisfied with major update

 

 

Championship leaders Mercedes caused a stir amongst the paddock when arriving at the Red Bull Ring, with it’s W09 EQ Power+ racers looking very different after it’s victory in France last weekend.

 

After testing their upgraded machines during Friday’s practice sessions both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were left satisfied.

 

The set of upgrades featured on the Silver Arrows were Ferrari-like sidepods, revised bargeboards and new rear wing end-plates and Bottas who ended up second in both sessions behind team-mate Hamilton said the first feeling of the updates felt good.

 

“The team has done a really good job delivering the updates. Every single person in the team has worked really hard on them,” explained Bottas. “It worked exactly as expected which is down to all the hard work behind the scenes. Especially the rear end of the car was really stable today.

 

“Last year I had severe blistering on the rear-left tyre, which could potentially be an issue again as it is going to be warmer again this Sunday. So it’s good that the rear felt stable today. However, we do still have a bit of balance work to do to get the most out of the car.” Bottas concluded.

 

Hamilton agreed with his Finnish team-mate, stating: “The car felt immediately better coming out of the garage in FP1 and also at the start at FP2. It got a little worse during the afternoon session and we will try to figure out why in the debrief,”

 

“But the car does feel good overall, so I’m sure we can rectify it. I’m going to keep pushing, trying to maximise a bit more out of it.” Hamilton said.

 

Red Bull struggling to find sweet spot

 

Although a maiden victory at the team’s home Grand Prix would be extremely satisfying, Red Bull looked to be the third best team on track after Friday’s practice sessions in Spielberg, with the RB14’s suffering a lack of balance according to Max Verstappen.

 

The Milton-Keynes based-outfit’s best effort came from Daniel Ricciardo, who posted a 1:05.031, which was good enough for fourth place, was almost half a second adrift of Lewis Hamilton’s benchmark, a big deficit on what is one of the shortest circuits on the calendar.

 

What made things worse was the Briton set the quickest lap on what was the slowest tyre available for the weekend, the yellow-branded soft compounds, although the lap times difference across all three tyres on offer this weekend in Austria looks to be almost unimportant at the Red Bull Ring.

 

Asked to reflect on how his day ended up in Austria, Verstappen revealed his running was compromised whilst running an old floor on his RB14, and was further hampered by it suffering damage during FP1.

 

“I don’t think it was a perfect day as we had a damaged floor,” Verstappen explained. “Something broke off the inside of the floor, so my second practice session I had to run with a floor that was a little bit cut or modified, let’s say that,”

 

“It was an old floor so we will put on a new one tomorrow, but today we had to be a bit limited on that, which definitely compromised the downforce of my car,”

 

“I think in general it was not the best day but there is still room for improvement. We know that we lose quite a bit of time on the straights and even though there is a third DRS zone, it is still a bit too much. Still some work.”

 

Verstappen had a few scruffy moments during both practice sessions, running off track on some of the corners and when asked on the feeling of his car balance he was unhappy with it.

 

“It was not the balance we wanted and we are chasing the balance a bit but we never really found the sweet spot yet,” the Dutchman continued. “I don’t think it’s with the tyres – it is more with the car balance we are not happy with. We still have some work to do but I think if we find the right car balance then the tyres will work.”

 

Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo seemed to have a better day in Austria, despite saying the team has not found the best setup as of yet.

 

“The day was alright,” Ricciardo said. “We changed a few things in the second practice. Somewhere in the middle, so we will go somewhere in the middle between P1 and P2 with aero and a few other bits and pieces,”

 

“This morning, we may have been a little bit stronger than the afternoon. We changed a few things. We can find a happy medium between the two set-ups we tried. The tyres were all really close, so that is going to be interesting, what strategy people go for tomorrow.” Ricciardo concluded.

 

 

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team: “A productive day in Spielberg”

 

It was a productive day for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team at the Red Bull Ring with Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc completing a comprehensive programme in preparations for qualifying and the race.

 

Testing all three compounds available for the weekend, both drivers are looking confident ahead of the second day in Spielberg.

 

“We completed a good number of laps and ran on all of the three tyre compounds for the weekend. We built on what we learned in France last weekend,” explained Ericsson, who was 11th quickest in the morning session and ended the day 14th in FP2 with a total of 61 laps completed. “With a set-up that suits my driving style well. We were in the midfield today, which is positive. Tonight, we will work on optimising everything, so that we can have a strong performance tomorrow.”

 

On the other side of the garage, Leclerc was happy with how the day went.

 

“In general, it was a positive day for us,” said Leclerc, who was ninth fastest in FP1 and finished 12th in the afternoon also with 61 laps completed in total. “Our pace is quite good and we completed the programme we had planned.”

 

“It was productive for us to test the different tyres we have for the weekend. I really enjoy driving on this track, and it is a good experience to complete my first laps in a Formula 1 car here. We are looking at our data and making sure we can have a strong performance during tomorrow’s sessions. Let’s see what will be possible.” Leclerc concluded.

 

Alfa Romeo currently sit ninth in the Constructors Championship, can they score more points this weekend in Austria?

 

 

Ferrari: “Well prepared”

 

Ferrari managed to have a solid day through both Friday practice sessions with both drivers testing all compounds on offer for the weekend, Sebastian Vettel was third quickest in the afternoon while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen ended the day sixth fastest.

 

Despite Vettel’s final attempt on on a flying lap being compromised after the red flag caused by Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, both drivers clocked in good race simulation mileage.

 

“We can always improve, but today I’m happy,” explained Vettel who currently sits second in the Driver’s Championship and 14 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton. “The car was pretty good, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. On this track it is true that the kerbs can be “aggressive” somehow, but today we didn’t have any issues and hopefully we won’t have problems tomorrow and in the race.”

 

We did a lot of laps, which is good, and usually on Saturday we can make a good step forward, so we should be well prepared for tomorrow and for Sunday.” concluded Vettel.

 

On the other side of the garage, Raikkonen said: “Obviously, we have some work to do to find the right set-up for tomorrow, like at any other race. It’s hard to judge our performance compared to other teams, because we don’t know what the other were doing, but in general it was not too bad. Tomorrow we’ll see where we are.”

 

 

Force India’s reflection of first day running

 

It was a busy Friday for the Sahara Force India F1 Team as they collected plenty of data on all compounds available for the weekend and running on both higher and low fuel.

 

Finding a good balance remains the focus of the Silverstone-based squad with the Red Bull Ring not an easy track to optimise the right setup.

 

Sergio Perez endured a difficult day taking 14th and 18th places in both sessions but says there is still work to do to improve.

 

“I don’t think we really showed our true speed today, especially in second practice when our run was affected by the red flag.” explained Perez. “The sessions went to plan, but I’m not yet comfortable with the car balance.”

 

“That’s where we need to work tonight to see if we can find something in the data to improve things before qualifying. If we can find a couple of tenths it will make a massive difference on this short track. Of course, we think it’s going to be much hotter tomorrow and the higher temperatures will impact on car balance again. We will have a lot of work to do in final practice to get on top of things.” Perez concluded.

 

Esteban Ocon enjoyed a better day in his Mercedes-powered VJM11, completing a total of 73 laps and finishing a solid high of 8th in FP1 and 13th in the afternoon.

 

“We completed lots of laps and just worked through the programme,” explained Ocon. “It was all pretty normal, trying the test items, improving the set-up and understanding the tyres,”

 

“The morning pace was solid with P8, but second practice was a bit more challenging. We haven’t found the best balance for the car yet so we need to improve for tomorrow.” Ocon concluded.

 

 

McLaren: “Most intense day of Free Practice”

 

Neither driver for McLaren ended the day satisfied with the balance of their MCL33 racers at the Red Bull Ring despite Stoffel Vandoorne achieving a 10th place in FP2.

 

The Woking-based squad ran a busy programme of testing and evaluating new parts for the next coming races.

 

Fernando Alonso, who undertook the most development running for the team in FP1, finished a low 19th after suffering floor damage on his first run.

 

“This was a pretty intense day as we had a lot of items to test on the car, especially aero parts,” explained Alonso who completed a total of 63 laps in both sessions. “We completed the programme, now we just need to analyse the data and make sure we put the best parts on the car tomorrow to find a little more performance,”

 

“Having an additional DRS zone is a good step: it will be difficult to get close to the car in front, especially in the middle sector, so three DRS zones will help to keep the group together. Hopefully, it should provide more overtaking in the race.”

 

“We expected rain today, but none came; it’s now on the forecast for tomorrow, so we need to be ready to maximise every opportunity that comes our way if the weather proves to be unpredictable.” Alonso concluded.

 

On the other side of the garage, Vandoorne was happy with the car but still has not found the right balance.

 

“It was a pretty busy day today,” explained Vandoorne who completed a total of 77 laps in both sessions. “The morning was spent evaluating a number of new parts and ideas, which meant that the real focus was on getting some consistent laps and some good, clean data.”

 

“In the afternoon, I was able to get into more of a rhythm with the car, and, while we didn’t really manage to get the balance right, the times weren’t too bad. We still need to work hard, as we’ve seen before that we can look reasonably competitive on a Friday only to drop down the order on Saturdays,”

 

“The most important thing is that we got some good learning done during the sessions, but it’s still too early to say where we are in the competitive order…” Vandoorne concluded.

 

 

Toro Rosso: “A good first day”

 

The Faenza-based outfit endured an up and down day at the Red Bull Ring in Austria with both drivers as they brought with them an updated aerodynamic package.

 

Brendon Hartley was the first to test the new aero package to confirm both wind tunnel and CFD results, with the team finding the improvements expected from the data and both cars are now fitted with the new update for the weekend.

 

The track was proving tough for both STR13’s with both cars sustaining bodywork damage due to the sausage kerbs and the most significant was the trackrod failure during Pierre Gasly’s long run, which brought out the red flag in Free Practice Two.

 

Although Gasly didn’t complete a lap on the faster ultrasoft compounds, the Frenchman was showing strong pace whilst on the other side of the garage, Hartley was struggling with car balance.

 

“It was a good first day in Spielberg,” explained Gasly who is having a promising weekend so far despite the incident in FP2. “I was in the top 10 for both practice sessions and I’m feeling pretty good with the car, hopefully we can keep the momentum for tomorrow! We need to be careful because we were quite fast in Paul Ricard on Friday as well, and then things changed,”

 

“So I need to make sure we keep improving this time, also because this is a short track and the gap to the others is really tight. I had a bit of a moment in FP2 where the car got damaged, but the guys did a fantastic job to repair it and get me back out before the session ended. It’s a positive beginning and I’ll work hard with the team tonight to find some more performance for tomorrow.” Gasly concluded.

 

Hartley had a trouble free day in Spielberg with the Kiwi completing a total of 100 laps and finished a low 17th and 19th in both sessions.

 

“There were no issues on my side during the first day in Austria,” said Hartley. “We lacked a bit of pace in today’s practice sessions, which we will be working on tonight,”

 

“I haven’t been particularly happy with the balance so there’s quite a bit of work to do to get the car where I want it to be. I’m confident we’ll find a solution and come back stronger tomorrow.”

 

 

Renault: “Balance and understeer the issues”

 

On a day occasionally visited by light rain, which didn’t affect the running, both Renault RS-18 racers of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz were encountering balance and understeer issues on the Red Bull Ring circuit.

 

Sainz was the quicker driver of the two on Friday, taking 13th and 11th whilst team-mate Hulkenberg stayed 15th in both sessions.

 

“We’ve been working hard today on getting the right set-up with the car and you could see we’re not quite there yet,” explained Sainz who set a 1:05.999 in FP2 and completed a total of 67 laps. “Nevertheless, we have a decent number of laps on the board and we know what we need to improve to get a faster and more balanced car. I think we have the potential so I look forward to tomorrow.”

 

On the other side of the garage, Hulkenberg spoke of the challenges of finding the right balance and hopes to find the right solution.

 

“It’s been a fairly typical Friday,” explained Hulkenberg. “The balance isn’t quite there with the car so we’ve been tackling that as a priority. We didn’t make as much progress as we’d like between FP1 and FP2 and understeer has been our enemy here so far,”

 

“Fortunately, it’s an enemy we know well so we have some good solutions to apply before we head out for qualifying tomorrow.” Hulkenberg concluded.