Max Verstappen complained of understeer on his Red Bull RB19: after making a long run on the hard tyres, he pitted for a change of set-up. The Milton Keynes mechanics replaced the anti-roll bar and in the lap of the checkered flag he shot a 1’05″742 with the medium compound. The world champion, therefore, in the first free practice session of the Austrian GP, he worked according to the race, without risking the use of the soft tyre.The data is worrying because Max left all the best competitors by more than two tenths, while he had disappointed in the long run of the RB19.
Ferrari is the first pursuer with Carlos Sainz capable of 1’05″983 at 241 thousandths from the RB19: the Spaniard seemed more comfortable in the flying lap with the new tire, while Charles Leclerc made a mistake at turn 1, finishing only 29 thousandths behind his teammate.
The world champion’s Red Bull seems out of reach, but then there seem to be the reds with the SF-23 in the evo version. The package of novelties (front wing, nose, bottom) worked and in the first part of the session the two Prancing Horse riders were a second behind the leaders because they were running on Hard tires without opening the DRS: tire degradation seemed limited , in line with that of the most competitive opponents.
At the end of the single free practice session, it is difficult to make assessments in absolute terms because the teams have carried out very different jobs, so it is not easy to understand the performance value: just to give an example, Lewis Hamilton is fourth with the Mercedes trailing in the middle second. Too much for a very short circuit, a sign that the black arrow perhaps used more fuel even in the flying lap, after the seven-time world champion had led the way with an excellent 1’06″416 obtained with the hard tyres. Two tenths of an improvement with two different compounds are not credible.To get a clearer picture we will have to wait for qualifying at the end of the afternoon.George Russell had problems adapting to Spielberg and finished only ninth.
Sergio Perez finished fifth with the medium tyres: the Mexican recovered from yesterday’s feverish state, but did not impress, ahead of the first Aston Martin, that of Lance Stroll which used the Soft compound, while Alonso worked with the medium and settled for eighth place.
Among the two “green” Kevin Magnussen stands out with the Haas which, like all Ferrari customers, has a very fresh third power unit. The top 10 is completed by Guanyu Zhou who gave Alfa Romeo a shot in the arm, given that Valtteri Bottas is only 14th with the other C43.
Alexander Albon with the Williams is 11th, while Logan Sargeant with the updated FW45 like that of the Anglo-Thailandese did not go beyond 17th position. The two Alpines are not surprising, only 18th with Esteban Ocon and 19th with Pierre Gasly: the Enstone single-seaters with yellow tires focused on durability and not on one lap, just like Lando Norris who debuted the evolved MCL60 that was scheduled for Silverstone and which was anticipated in Austria. It should therefore come as no surprise that Oscar Piastri with the old “papaya” has comfortably settled in 12th place.
Nico Hulkenberg is 13th with the Haas, while the updated AlhaTauris struggle with Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck De Vries very close in 15th and 16th position.
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