Ferrari focus on aero tests with upgraded floor – FP1 report | 2019 Austrian GP

Scuderia Ferrari’s focus in the first practice session for the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix has been aero tests rather than lap times at the Red Bull Ring, as the Maranello team was keen to gather more data from this session in their bid to solve the aerodynamic issues. Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc started the session with the new front wing on the SF90 cars, but they retained the older-spec floor for the first laps at the Red Bull Ring.

As the session progressed, Sebastian Vettel used the upgraded floor in order to gather data and compare the lap times. That upgrade failed to deliver the expected results in France and the Italian side will have more test items to run on the SF90 here today, although Charles Leclerc said yesterday that they weren’t exactly to aid performance specifically, rather than to help the package of upgrades from France to work properly.

In the second part on the practice session, Ferrari continued to run on the medium tyres as they tick off what they have described as their ‘to-do list’ with test parts to complement the upgrades they first ran in France.

Regarding the lap times at the Red Bull Ring, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton clocked the fastest time in opening practice at the Red Bull Ring, leading Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by a tenth of a second. Valtteri Bottas finished third, just ahead of Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc.

Austrian Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from the opening free practice session for the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.

FP1 Results (Classification):

Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.838
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari +0.144
Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +0.161
Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.303
Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.422
Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing +0.540
Carlos Sainz McLaren +0.664
Daniel Ricciardo Renault +1.008
Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.038
Lando Norris McLaren +1.287
Romain Grosjean Haas +1.297
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +1.434
Alex Albon Toro Rosso +1.447
Nico Hulkenberg Renault +1.545
Sergio Perez Racing Point +1.619
Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo +1.870
Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo +1.891
Lance Stroll Racing Point +1.918
George Russell Williams +1.967
Robert Kubica Williams +2.827