FP1: Verstappen tops Piastri in Austrian GP practice despite mid-session halt

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen overcame a mid-practice stoppage to lead the timesheets in Friday's sole practice session ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. Verstappen’s late-session blitz saw him edge out McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Ferraris Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completing the top four.

Check out the results of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, including the race results, qualifying times, and practice sessions

With the Sprint format in play, teams had just one hour to prepare for Sprint Qualifying at the Red Bull Ring. The session featured extensive running on Pirelli's aggressive tyre range for the weekend: the C3 hards, C4 mediums, and C5 softs.

Mercedes initially set the pace on hard tyres, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell leading before Verstappen halted on track with an "engine fault," triggering red flags. However, Red Bull quickly reset, allowing Verstappen to return and clock the fastest lap of 1m 05.685s.

The closing minutes saw a flurry of activity on soft tyres, with Verstappen setting the benchmark, Piastri trailing by a few tenths, and Ferrari’s Leclerc and Sainz behind them. Mercedes ended lower on the timesheets due to Hamilton sticking with hard tyres and Russell encountering traffic, finishing fifth and eighth respectively.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon took sixth ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, while RB’s Yuki Tsunoda battled steering issues to finish ninth. Fernando Alonso completed the top ten in his Aston Martin.

Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull) followed in 11th and 12th, while Lando Norris suffered a late off-track excursion, leaving him 13th. Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas finished in P14 and P15, with Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the top 16.

Haas and Williams struggled, placing Nico Hulkenberg, Alex Albon, Kevin Magnussen, and Logan Sargeant towards the back.

Next up is Sprint Qualifying at 1630 local time, promising more high-stakes action.

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