Steiermark GP 2021

JUNE 25, 2021

Friday Report - Take two

Max Verstappen, French GP 2021
© Red Bull

By Dan Knutson

Max Verstappen topped both free practice sessions for the Styrian Grand Prix in his Red Bull.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Red Bull Honda – Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez; McLaren Mercedes – Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo; Aston Martin Mercedes – Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel; Alpine Renault – Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon; Ferrari – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz; AlphaTauri Honda – Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly; Alfa Romeo Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi; Haas Ferrari – Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher; Williams Mercedes – George Russell and Nicolas Latifi.

Alfa Romeo’s test driver Robert Kubica drove Raikkonen’s car in FP1.

Verstappen topped FP1 with a time of 1:05.910. Gasly, Hamilton and Bottas rounded out the top four in that session.

There was an 80 percent chance of rain in FP2, so the drivers were keen to get in some dry running. Raikkonen and Alonso were the first out

The ambient temperature at the start of the 60-minute FP2 session was 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 89 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees Centigrade). A few drops of rain were falling, but not heavy enough to warrant switching to wet weather tires.

Gasly’s car had a problem with its power unit, so he had to miss the session.

Alonso set the early pace with a time of 1:06.651, but Verstappen beat that at 1:06.643. Then Hamilton clocked a 1:06.358.

Ten minutes into the session Sainz spun at Turn 4. A couple minutes later Verstappen slotted ahead at 1:06.192. Bottas, on the soft compound Pirelli slicks, moved into second with his 1:06.251. Then Stroll, also on the softs, went ahead at 1:06.079, and Vettel beat that by turning a 1:05.934.

Now other drivers were doing their qualifying sims on the soft tires. Hamilton beat the Aston Martin drivers with a 1:05.796, and Ocon beat that by 0.006 of a second.

Thirty-five minutes remained in the session when Mazepin spun at Turn 5. The qualifying sims continued, and Verstappen’s 1:05.412 put him in the lead ahead of Ricciardo, Ocon and Hamilton. The latter had his fastest lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 10.

Most of the drivers headed for the garages to prepare for their race simulations in the final 25 minutes.

The top 10 at the end of FP2 – which stayed dry – were: Verstappen, Ricciardo, Ocon, Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Norris, Stroll, Perez and Giovinazzi.