F1: Hamilton top in Austria practice

Howard · Jun 20, 2014

The Mercedes pair topped practice this weekend, with Nico Rosberg top in FP1 and Lewis Hamilton best in FP2 with the fastest time overall.

Hamilton said "It didn't feel bad out there today considering this is a new track to me. Already after the first few laps I was feeling comfortable and always seemed to be finding time with new lines and improvements.

"To be as quick as I was considering others have already driven this track is a great feeling. It was very windy out there today, but we got a lot of running and feel set for the race on Sunday.

"The high speed corners were working the rear tyres hard but they seemed to cope well. The feeling was good for both sets of tyres even in the long runs, so if the car is like this for the race I'm in a good place. The goal for tomorrow will be pole position, but there is still a long straight up to turn two so anything can happen in the race."

In free practice one, Rosberg went fastest, followed by Hamilton and Alonso, who were only four-tenths behind the German. The morning was cool and overcast, and rain made a brief appearance. Fastest lap times see-sawed between Rosberg and Hamilton, so Mercedes are going to be pretty happy with themselves this afternoon.

One success story of this morning is that of Jenson Button. The Brit, at one point, lapped his upgrade McLaren in 1m11.839s. Just after Rosberg's 1m11.295s knocked Jenson off the top, it began to rain. However, the drizzle went as fast as it arrived, so drivers were back up to speed quickly.

At the end of the session, Rosberg led Hamilton, followed by Alonso, William's Felipe Massa and Button in fifth.

Perez just beat teammate Nico Hulkenberg for sixth and seventh, followed by Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Jean-Eric Vergne who rounds out the top ten.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen only managed eleventh, just ahead of Daniil Kvyat and Canada winner Daniel Ricciardo. Defending world champion Vettel failed to best Esteban Gutierrez's time of 1m12.984s in FP1.The Lotus pair sit 16th and 17th, Grosjean at 1m13.168s and Maldonado with a 1m13.642s, followed by Bianchi, Chilton, Kobayashi and Sutil. The running was rounded out by Ericsson, who's car 'switched itself off' on the exit of turn 1.

In free practice two, Hamilton snatched the top spot from his teammate with a time three-tenths up from Rosberg's fastest lap. Hamilton's 1m09.542s is still over a second off of the fastest lap at the track, set by Michael Schumacher in 2003.

Fernando Alonso was again third fastest, just ahead of the Williams pair of Bottas and Massa. The Spaniard was told by his race engineer "This pace is still okay, it's competitive, except for Mercedes..."

Sebastian Vettel finally set a half-decent time for Red Bull at their 'home' race, with a sixth fastest time of 1m10.808s. He was followed by Jenson Button, who complained that the new aero package the MP29 is sporting in Austria has not solved a problem he experienced a fortnight ago in Canada.

Ricciardo was eigth, just a few thousandths of a second ahead of Kevin Magnussen. Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completed the sub-1m11s group with 1m10.927 and 1m10.974 respectively. Vergne's teammate Kvyat was 12th in the second Toro Rosso.

Perez, Gutierrez, Maldonado, Sutil and Hulkenberg rounded out those under 1m12s. Sutil had engine problems in FP1, which he said made the C33 a handful to drive.

Max Chilton was just ahead of his teammate Jules Bianchi. The pair were split by the Lotus of Romain Grosjean, who clocked in a 1m12.262. Kamui Kobayashi finished just ahead of his teammate Marcus Ericsson who again completed the running for today.

FP1 results:

Nico Rosberg #6, Mercedes, 1:11.295
Lewis Hamilton #44, Mercedes, 1:11.435, +0.140
Fernando Alonso #14, Ferrari, 1:11.606, +0.311
Felipe Massa #19, Williams, 1:11.756, +0.461
Jenson Button #22, McLaren, 1:11.839, +0.544
Sergio Perez #11, Force India, 1:12.009, +0.714
Nico Hulkenberg #27, Force India, 1:12.072, +0.777
Valtteri Bottas #77, Williams, 1:12.114, +0.819
Kevin Magnussen #20, McLaren, 1:12.313, +1.018
Jean-Eric Vergne #25, Toro Rosso, 1:12.364, +1.069
Kimi Raikkonen #7, Ferrari, 1:12.365, +1.070
Daniil Kvyat #26, Toro Rosso, 1:12.372, +1.077
Daniel Ricciardo #3, Red Bull, 1:12.570, +1.275
Esteban Gutierrez #21, Ferrari, 1:12.984, +1.689
Sebastian Vettel #1, Red Bull, 1:12.988, +1.693
Romain Grosjean #8, Lotus, 1:13.168, +1.873
Pastor Maldonado #13, Lotus, 1:13.642, +2.347
Jules Bianchi #17, Marussia, 1:13.738, +2.443
Max Chilton #4, Marussia, 1:13.857, +2.562
Kamui Kobayashi #10, Caterham, 1:14.611, +3.316
Adrian Sutil #99, Sauber, 1:14.691, +3.396
Marcus Ericsson #9, Caterham, 1:17.501, +6.206

FP2 results:

Lewis Hamilton #44, Mercedes, 1:09.542
Nico Rosberg #6, Mercedes, 1:09.919, +0.377
Fernando Alonso #14, Ferrari, 1:10.470, +0.928
Valtteri Bottas #77, Williams, 1:10.519, +0.977
Felipe Massa #19, Williams, 1:10.521, +0.979
Sebastian Vettel #1, Red Bull, 1:10.807, +1.265
Jenson Button #22, McLaren, 1:10.813, +1.271
Daniel Ricciardo #3, Red Bull, 1:10.920, +1.378
Kevin Magnussen #20, McLaren, 1:10.936, +1.394
Jean-Eric Vergne #25, Toro Rosso 1:10.972, +1.430
Kimi Raikkonen #7, Ferrari, 1:10.974, +1.432
Daniil Kvyat #26, Toro Rosso, 1:11.261, +1.719
Sergio Perez #11, Force India, 1:11.296, +1.754
Esteban Gutierrez #21, Sauber, 1:11.491, +1.949
Pastor Maldonado #13, Lotus, 1:11.765, +2.223
Adrian Sutil #99, Sauber, 1:11.806, +2.264
Nico Hulkenberg #27, Force India, 1:11.935, +2.393
Max Chilton #4, Marussia, 1:12.229, +2.687
Romain Grosjean #8, Lotus, 1:12.262, +2.720
Kamui Kobayashi #10, Caterham, 1:12.937, +3.395
Marcus Ericsson #9, Caterham, 1:13.596, +4.054

Images: Getty/Red Bull, Mercedes AMG Petronas, Sahara Force India

yusupov · Jun 20, 2014

a full second better?? this is surely one of the most dominant f1 cars of all time, right? i mean its gotta be making a run at the mp4/4 by this point...