F1 is in Austria as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc continue their battle for the world championship.
Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton will look to have his say after an encouraging third place finish at last week’s British Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz is also looking to string a run of wins together after reinvigorating his season at the British Grand Prix.
However it is not yet known what state of mind he will be in after his dad suffered a brutal rally driving crash just days after watching him emerge victorious at Silverstone.
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Q2 is go – the battle for the top 10
While the debrief begins at McLaren and Aston Martin, the rest of the field are slugging it out for the right to start in the top 10 on the grid for the sprint race.
There is a real chance for Haas to spring a surprise here. They have looked strong in qualifying in the past two races.
Ricciardo is OUT
Another terrible qualifying for the Aussie. He is out in Q1. As are Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll – a double blow for Aston Martin.
The team has spent millions and millions and still cannot make the top 15 in qualifying.
Also eliminated are Latifi and Zhou.
Ricciardo is in trouble
The knives are out for the McLaren man, who has not delivered since his move from Renault.
He currently sits in the drop zone. Another Q1 exit will only pile on the pressure.
Hamilton looking solid
The Mercedes man was in the mix during practice but he has gone quickest so far.
In the drop zone are: Verstappen, Vettel, Albon, Stroll, Latifi and Norris.
We still have five minutes to go…
Green light – qualifying is underway in Austria
The shootout for pole for tomorrow’s sprint race has started. Usual qualifying rules apply, so five slowest cars will be eliminated.
Confirmation of Austrian FP1 times
1 Verstappen
2 Leclerc
3 Russell
4 Perez
5 Hamilton
6 Magnussen
Verstappen stokes Hamilton rivalry
Max Verstappen has picked Sir Lewis Hamilton as the “biggest show off” in Formula One.
Verstappen appears to have completed a survey for the Dutch Grand Prix’s official Instagram and ended up adding even more fuel to his ongoing rivalry with Hamilton.
The reigning F1 champion was asked a series of questions regarding his opponents and he didn’t hold back on what he thought about his biggest foe.
The Dutchman was asked to name the sport’s “biggest show off” and he ticked Hamilton’s name.
Sainz Sr in scary crash
The father of Formula One star Carlos Sainz was involved in a terrifying car crash with chiefs now promising to investigate the incident.
Carlos Sainz Sr, 60, races for Acciona | Sainz XE Team in the Extreme E off-road series and was competing in the Final of the Island X-Prix in Sardinia, Italy when the smash occurred yesterday.
Sainz was in the lead when he was hit by Rosberg X Racing’s Johan Kristoffersson, causing his car to flip.
The Spaniard, who just days ago watched his boy win his first-ever F1 Grand Prix at Silverstone, was left momentarily trapped in the wrecked motor before he was finally able to exit it by himself.
Sainz Sr was instantly taken to hospital, while Kristoffersson received a 30-second penalty as he earned his team a third-place finish.
Sainz Sr later eased fears over his condition later that evening on social media – but he slammed the penalty decision.
FP1 Times
Perez in fourth, Hamilton fifth, Magnussen in sixth…
Max tops the timesheets
The Red Bull man is quickest ahead of qualifying. He sets the pace with a time of 1:06.302 – a total of 0.255 quicker than Charles Leclerc. George Russel is in P3, 0.400 behind the Dutchman.
Green flag – we are going again
What looked like a long black piece of rubber has been removed from the kerbs and we are now back up to speed.
Slight odd one though. I am sure the stewards will be checking that kerb properly once the session is over.
Red Flag – debris on track
Some piece of body work is on the edge of turn six and the practice session has been stopped to remove it.
We are going again
Pit lane is open, Norris’s McLaren is heading back to the garage to be checked.
Meanwhile, his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo is very, very, slow.
Red Flag – Norris stops on track
The McLaren man has come to a halt at turn six. He radios his team to say he’s on fire, with smoke coming from below his seat.
No signs of any flames of smoke but he has pulled over and is out of his car.
Not a great start to the weekend for the Brit.
Sprint to the finish
In the sprint races so far, we saw Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collide in Silverstone and Monza while in Sao Paulo Hamilton went from the back to the front of the short race.
So, history says these have a fundamental part in upping the excitement. But let’s see here.
Many are predicting a routine win for Verstappen. He is already the quickest man on track. He is in P1 ahead of Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso in third.
We still have over 40 minutes to go, so those times will drop.
FP1 is go in Austria
Green light, green hill; this place is pretty special. The Red Bull Ring is looking fantastic today for practice.
This weekend has been shaken up a bit as we have another sprint race.
So, practice today followed by qualifying.
Second practice on Saturday followed by the 30-minute sprint race.
Normal race on Sunday.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
