Verstappen bounces back in Austria as Hamilton finishes sixth. Ferrari focuses on upgrades, and Norris deals with a physical malady.
SPIELBERG, Austria—July 10th—Was it an upset? Or are we seeing the beginning of change? Those questions loom large following Friday’s practice session at the Red Bull Ring in preparation for the inaugural Styrian Grand Prix on Sunday. Max Verstappen, who had a lot of trouble in last week’s Austrian Grand Prix, revived himself and set the fastest time of the day at 1:03:660. Valtteri Bottas was second quickest with the “Pink Mercedes” Racing Point car. Sergio Perez, who won the morning session, finished in third.
On Friday, Verstappen was good on short and long runs, beating Bottas easily. He was just as good as Bottas in race preparation, and his car seems to be just as quick on medium tires as Bottas’ car is on soft tires.
Because heavy rain is in the forecast for both qualifying and race days, on Friday, most drivers were driving harder than usual. All went well except for Daniel Ricciardo, who crashed early in the afternoon session at turn nine. He limped away from the incident, admitting later that it was his fault. “I hit my knee on the steering column. There was a little bit of wind, and I probably came in with too much speed for the conditions.” Ricciardo finished 20th and last for his Renault team.
On the flip side, Ricciardo’s teammate, Esteban Ocon, finished in 10th, and Lance Stroll, who may be having the best season of his career, placed just behind teammate Perez in fourth. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. was next in fifth.
Perhaps the biggest news of the day was Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes. He finished a disappointing sixth.
With new upgrades in place for an inaugural run, Ferrari had a mixed day. Charles Leclerc was ninth, and Sebastian Vettel took 16th, but both were happy with the upgrades.
Alex Albion, in the second Red Bull, was seventh, despite experiencing two spins during the day.
Lando Norris, in the other McLaren, was eighth, hindered by a body ache when he compresses the brakes on his car.
To make matters worse for Norris, he was issued a three-grid penalty on race day for ignoring yellow flags during the morning session.
