Sergio Perez has concluded the opening practice session of the Styrian Grand Prix weekend as the fastest driver, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Max Verstappen.
The Racing Point driver missed out on a podium finish last weekend at the Red Bull Ring, and will be aiming for further success during the second weekend at the Austrian venue. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, F1 remains in Austria for the second round of the season before heading to Hungary next weekend.
Perez used the soft tyre for his fastest lap, as did Red Bull’s Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in third and fourth respectively both used the medium compound on their hot laps.
There was intrigue at upgraded Ferrari ahead of first practice. Charles Leclerc finished second in last weekend’s race but with Ferrari almost a second off the pace in qualifying, the team knew they were in need of a big improvement for the second Spielberg event. And that is Ferrari were are a team to look out for today.
Ferrari have two big updates to their car this weekend, and so Friday is a crucial day for them to test data. It’s not converting into practice-topping pace at the moment, as Sebastian Vettel finished in P10, with a personal best of 1m 05.770, almost one second behind the time of Sergio Perez, while Charles Leclerc was P12, with a personal best of 1m 05.837. But an important morning for Ferrari with some of the more significant parts of their planned Hungary upgrade being tested early here.
2020 F1 STYRIAN GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1)
POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME
1 Sergio Perez MEX BWT Racing Point F1 Team 1m 04.867
2 Max Verstappen NED Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1m 04.963
3 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m 05.089
4 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m 05.120
5 Lance Stroll CAN BWT Racing Point F1 Team 1m 05.396
6 Alexander Albon THA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1m 05.483
7 Carlos Sainz ESP McLaren F1 Team 1m 05.602
8 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m 05.698
9 Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team 1m 05.769
10 Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m 05.770
11 Daniil Kvyat RUS Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m 05.815
12 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m 05.837
13 Esteban Ocon FRA Renault F1 Team 1m 05.874
14 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m 05.908
15 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m 06.441
16 Romain Grosjean FRA Haas F1 Team 1m 06.446
17 Jack Aitken GBR Williams Racing 1m 06.768
18 Robert Kubica POL Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m 06.797
19 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m 09.598
20 Kevin Magnussen DEN Haas F1 Team No time set
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