Practice 1 Report - Rosberg wins round one

Nico Rosberg won round one of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend by setting the fastest lap time in Free Practice 1. His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton wound up second.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Centigrade.) There was a 20 percent chance of rain.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault - Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes - Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda - Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes - Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault - Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes - Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari - Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi. Sauber - Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

In FP1, however, Jolyon Palmer replaced Grosjean in the Lotus.

Hulkenberg was back in a Formula 1 car following his win in the Le Mans 24 Hours for Porsche with co-drivers Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber.

"It was quite amazing," Hulkenberg said. "A very intense and long week. I flew from Montreal to Paris and then straight to Le Mans. To come there, first attempt, and to win it with my team and my teammates has just been incredible, very emotional moments and a great experience that I don't want to miss obviously, so very proud about what we've achieved there."

Kvyat was the first driver out on the 2.688-mile (4.326-km) 9-turn track. Soon all the drivers except Hamilton had completed their installation laps. Alonso coasted back to the pits with the McLaren in neutral, and the crew set to work on his car.

After sitting around in the garages for the first 13 minutes, the drivers including Hamilton finally started doing some laps.

14 minutes into the session, Nasr set the first lap time: 1:18.021. Bottas beat that with a 1:16.162.

16 minutes into the session, Massa turned a 1:14.969, and he then set a 1:14.271. Bottas topped that with a 1:14.160.

All the drivers were on the soft compound Pirelli tires with yellow sidewalls.

19 minutes into the session, Rosberg topped the charts with a 1:12.791. Hamilton could only do a 1:13.001. Rosberg then went even quicker and lapped the track in a 1:11.389.

21 minutes into the session, Vettel pulled off the track on the back straight. His Ferrari had "lost drive" he said.

24 minutes into the session, Rosberg turned a 1:10.840.

27 minutes into the session, Massa smoked his tires out of the pits and nearly hit Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene.

30 minutes into the session, the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Maldonado, Massa, Perez, Bottas, Verstappen and Ricciardo. Alonso's car was still being repaired.

36 minutes into the session, Vettel's Ferrari arrived at the pits on a flatbed truck, and the mechanics pushed it (the Ferrari, not the truck) back to the garage.

40 minutes into the session, Nasr took to the track and had it all to himself until teammate Ericsson joined him.

Midway through FP1 the top 10 remained: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Maldonado, Massa, Perez, Bottas, Verstappen and Ricciardo.

With 40 minutes remaining in the session, more drivers joined the Sauber drivers on track.

With 37 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton improved to a 1:10.709. Nasr was now sixth.

With 36 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton locked up his front tires and slid off at Turn 1.

With 30 minutes remaining in the session, the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Perez, Kvyat, Nasr, Maldonado, Massa, Bottas and Verstappen.

With 28 minutes remaining in the session, Palmer popped up to ninth place. Then Verstappen took over fourth. Rosberg, meanwhile, was complaining about the new set-up on his car.

With 21 minutes remaining in the session, Kvyat grabbed third place.

With 15 minutes remaining in the session, the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Kvyat, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Hulkenberg and Palmer. Then Massa jumped from 13th to eighth and Bottas took sixth. Bottas went even quicker and was soon fourth.

The top 10 at the end of FP1 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Bottas, Nasr, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Massa and Perez.