2019 Austrian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen set the rate in Free Practice 2 for the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, heading a session that saw a warning early on after Daniel Ricciardo had a huge impact with the barriers at Turn 9.
Having had two decent efforts deleted for track limitation infringements, Red Bulls Verstappen eventually posted a lap of 1m 03.660 s– around seven-tenths shy of recentlys pole lap at the exact same track– and 0.043 s up on the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.
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Carlos Sainz was the fastest McLaren in P5, ahead of the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in P6, with the six-time champion looking less comfy than his group mate around the 2.7-mile track, as he wound up nearly seventh-tenths adrift of Bottas. Alex Albon recuperated from a spin at Turn 3 to go P7, and grumbled about a snappy Red Bull RB16– which then led to another spin into the gravel going though the Turn 7-8 chicane with 15 minutes of the session to go.
Behind Verstappen and Bottas, the Racing Points confirmed their speed at the sharp end of the field, FP1 leader Sergio Perez 0.217 s behind Verstappen in 3rd, three-tenths up on team mate Lance Stroll in 4th.
1
Max
Verstappen
VER
Red Bull Racing
1:03.660
2
+0.043 s.
Valtteri
Bottas
BOT
Mercedes
3.
Sergio.
Perez.
PER.
Racing Point.
+0.217 s.
4.
Lance.
Stroll.
STR.
Racing Point.
+0.581 s.
5.
+0.673 s.
Lower down the grid, Williams George Russell was P15 in his very first session of the weekend– having actually quit his FW43 to Jack Aitken this early morning– ahead of the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, who had a much faster lap erased, while the two Haas cars and trucks continued to have a hard time for speed, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean ending up P18 and P19.
Ricciardo was able to limp out of the vehicle, prior to being cleared by the physicians after a see to the medical centre. His automobile was looking less happy, however, with visible damage to the front and rear wings– and what seems a long night ahead for the Renault mechanics.
FP2 Highlights: 2020 Styrian Grand Prix.
Renaults Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10– but his team mate Daniel Ricciardo missed out on most of the session, after losing the rear end of his R.S. 20 on the exit of Turn 9 and barrelling into the wall on the exterior of the track.
Lando Norris put the second McLaren P8, but will be compromised on Sunday after he was handed a three-place grid charge for a yellow flag violation throughout FP1– while the updates to Charles Leclercs Ferrari SF1000 couldnt get him within a second of Verstappens session-heading time, as he took P9.
The next on track running will be FP3 on Saturday, followed by certifying. Can Bottas make it two poles in a row? Or can Verstappen challenge for top spot on the grid? Follow all the action survive on F1.com tomorrow to learn …
PADDOCK PASS: Previewing this weekends Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
With bad weather report for Saturday and Sunday morning, there is a chance that if no running is possible then, the FP2 times might set the grid for the race, something that was all-too obvious to Pierre Gasly, after he was sent to supply a tow to his AlphaTauri team mate Daniil Kvyat. “Im not giving a **** ing tow to Dany,” Gasly shouted, prior to including: “If this is quali, we didnt increase it.”.
Carlos.
Sainz.
SAI.
McLaren.
