Austrian GP 2018
JUNE 29, 2018
Practice 1 Report - Fast update
© Martin Trenkler
By Dan Knutson in Speilberg
The Mercedes cars were fitted with the latest update package, making its debut in Austria, and that no doubt helped Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas set the fastest laps in Free Practice 1.
"I know how hard everyone is working back at the factory to make sure we bring the good stuff," Hamilton said. "It will undoubtedly help us in our battle to fight the other guys."
The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes - Hamilton and Bottas; Ferrari - Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen; Red Bull TAG Heuer - Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen; Force India Mercedes - Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon; Williams Mercedes -Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin; Renault - Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz; Toro Rosso Honda - Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly; Haas Ferrari - Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; McLaren Renault - Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne; Sauber Ferrari - Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc.
Robert Kubica replaced Sirotkin for FP1.
Alonso and Hulkenberg were the first out on the 10-turn 2.683-mile (4.318 km) Red Bull Ring.
"It's a track I've raced on in LMP2 and I really enjoy it," Hartley said of the circuit. "It's a funny thing that, as a young kid, I used to play Grand Prix 3 and Grand Prix 4 on the computer and for whatever reason, it was this track that I would always play. It was known as the A1 Ring back then, so I know it well from being a 10-year-old playing computer games. Who knows, maybe it's because kids have a short attention span and it's a very short lap!"
The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Centigrade).
Pirelli's tire compounds for the weekend were the soft, super soft and ultra soft.
Verstappen set the early pace with time of 1:06.470, but 13 minutes into the session Bottas beat that with a 1:05.995. Hamilton slotted into third.
Hamilton now went to the front with a time of 1:05.825. Bottas came back with a 1:05.807 and a 1:05.681.
Twenty-five minutes into the session Hamilton clocked a 1:05.525 on the super softs. Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen, Gasly and Verstappen rounded out the top six at this stage.
Verstappen had a quick spin at Turn 4. "All good, just a 360," he radioed. Meanwhile his teammate Ricciardo slid into second with a time of 1:05.571 on the soft tires. But Verstappen also improved and moved to fourth.
At the 40-minute break the top 10 were: Hamilton, Ricciardo, Bottas, Verstappen, Vettel, Raikkonen, Gasly, Sainz, Magnussen and Grosjean.
Vandoorne had gone over the curbs and broken the front wing on the McLaren.
As the on track action resumed, Vettel used the ultras to go up to second with a time of 1:05.563. Raikkonen trying to improve on the ultras went wide and flat-spotted the right front.
Now the Mercedes drivers were on the ultra soft tires, and Bottas clocked a 1:05.354. Hamilton topped that with his 1:05.037.
Vettel improved to a 1:05.180 to split the Mercedes cars. Bottas responded with a 1:05.109.
The times continued to drop. Hamilton got down to a 1:04.839. Bottas turned a 1:04.966.
With just under 30 minutes remaining in FP1, the top 10 were: Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Leclerc, Ocon and Gasly.
The session wound down with the drivers now on worn tires so not improving their lap times. So the updated and fast Mercedes cars stayed ahead, and the top 10 remained the same.