Atypical Friday at Spielberg: Red Bull-Ferrari head to head in the only free practice session on Friday with Verstappen in front of Leclerc and Sainz seventh
Ore 17:23 – Al via il Q2, Leclerc gi flies
The second qualifying session has started, at the end of which ten will remain to fight for the pole. Ferrari is already on the track, and so is Red Bull. Leclerc and Verstappen are already running very fast times, but also watch out for Russell and Hamilton. English is now the fastest.
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17:20 – Q1, the top 10
Leclerc, Sainz, Verstappen, Alonso, Hamilton, Perez, Russell, Norris, Magnussen, Schumacher.
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17:17 – Q1 ends: Ferrari double, Vettel starts last
In the first qualifying session: Leclerc ahead of Sainz, then Verstappen, Alonso, Hamilton. Eliminated Ricciardo, Stroll, Zhou, Latifi, Vettel.
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5.15 pm – Schumacher also did well
Motivated by the first points in his career in F1 (at Silverstone) Mick Schumacher is running on excellent times with the Haas and in front of his teammate Magnussen.
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17:12 – Ferrari-Red Bull head to head
As soon as he pushes Verstappen a little it is scary, but his time is overtaken by the Ferrari couple. Leclerc and then Sainz, the Spaniard at 241 thousandths.
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5:10 pm – Hamilton’s lightning
Lewis impresses with a quick lap in 1’06 ” 079, Perez trailing by just 64 thousandths.
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17:08 – Verstappen now enters the track
The Dutchman is about to enter the track, ten minutes from the end of Q1. The delay due to a problem with the visor of the helmet: his first time canceled for having crossed the limits of the track, again at turn 10.
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5:05 pm – Leclerc has a very strong start
Charles also loves this track, another fast lap. This circuit reminds me of the times of karts, short. We have been competitive in the past too and I really hope now to leave everything behind with a clean weekend, he said as soon as he arrived in Austria.
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17:03 – Sainz’s best time canceled
The Spaniard overshot the track at Turn 10 and his best time was canceled. Now in command is Leclerc, then Perez and Norris.
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17:01 – Let’s go!
as soon as Q1 starts, five drivers will be eliminated in the first session. Red Bull intervened on Sergio Perez’s car, on the bottom of the car. The Mexican has been struggling for a while compared to Verstappen. Also due to a different technical approach to developments, that go well with the Dutch guide.
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4:55 pm – Cars ready, how important is this pole
Final preparations before the start of qualifying: the cars are about to leave the garages. Pole is less important here than elsewhere and with the Sprint Race even less decisive. But it is always better to start from the front than to find yourself chasing. Especially for Leclerc, who must reduce a gap of 43 points in the standings.
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4:46 pm – Does Ferrari already have an engine in free practice?
the doubt of many experts, including Helmut Marko: since when he has to fight against reliability problems, Maranello’s strategy to avoid risks and lower power when not needed. We will see how much will go up in qualifying.
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16:35 – Four victories for Verstappen in Austria
Max has a particular feeling with the Austrian circuit: he won in 2018, in 2019 and twice last year (taking both the Austrian and Styrian GPs, one week later.).
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16:30 – What are today’s qualifying for?
Everything is ready at the Red Bull Ring for qualifying for the Sprint Race on Saturday: today’s format follows the classic one of the fast lap. Three sessions (Q1, Q2 and Q3), the pole will be counted in the official statistics (as opposed to what happened last year) and the positions will determine the starting order of the Sprint Race on Saturday (This is how the mini-race works)
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16:26 – The technique: Red Bull uses a kit to breathe better
The Red Bull Ring a demanding circuit for engines, the home team has brought updates to increase the cooling system: Piergiuseppe Donadoni explains how the package works and where the interventions were made. Ferrari instead runs with the same car used at Silverstone.
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14:53 – The internal rivalry of Ferrari
Qualifying for the Sprint Race will also be interesting to see the internal duel at Ferrari. Carlos Sainz, after his first career win at Silverstone, he wanted to clarify his point of view: We didn’t make the wrong strategy, I won and Ferrari won. A vision opposite to that of Charles Leclerc, who cleared up the tensions in a dinner in Montecarlo with Mattia Binotto.
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14:49 – The complete times of the first session
Here are the times of the first free practice session of the Austrian GP
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14:35 – Not the usual tests, you had to push right away
With the Sprint Race format and qualifying already at 5pm today, the teams had little time to adjust their set-up or study alternative solutions. Verstappen pushed straight away to be sure to play for the pole that will win the first box of the sprint race on Saturday. How much is the performance of the Mercedes worth? Enough because improvements from Silverstone are important, but Ferrari and Red Bull are still far ahead.
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14:31 – Free Practice 1 finished, Verstappen in front of Leclerc
Verstappen was the fastest in the free practice sessions of the Austrian GP: the Dutch finished ahead of Leclerc, the Ferrari driver 255 thousandths of a second behind. an interesting head-to-head with the slightly favored Red Bull. Behind Max are George Russell with Mercedes, Perez, Hamilton, Magnussen. Seventh Carlos Sainz.
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14:25 – Verstappen starts very strong
Red Bull expects to be a favorite on the home circuit, thanks to a few features: an efficient turbo, and small aerodynamic improvements. The Dutchman signed the best lap in 1’06”302. Last year he won two races here: he is strong not only on the flying lap but also on the race pace.
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2.20 pm – Anti-porpoising legislation slips
The meeting between the team, FIA and F1 ended: among the approved innovations there is the postponement of the Porpoising Directive. Federal controls on the acceptable level of taxes will start from the Belgian GP at the end of August. They were to be applied starting from the French GP, in two weeks.
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14:16 – Trouble for Norris, Bottas will start penalized
The Englishman of McLaren remained on foot, technical trouble for a McLaren that is struggling to find the ideal state of form and very far from the top teams. Valtteri Bottas, on the other hand, will start penalized: he has changed another engine on the Alfa, the fourth power unit. And the confirmation of how Ferrari’s reliability problems are still present, therefore it is necessary to always have fresh parts.
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2:07 pm – Few changes to Ferrari
Ferrari took to the track with the same car used at Silverstone, Leclerc expects to be competitive
or. a track he loves, here in 2019 he engages in a nice duel with Verstappen who then wins the race. From that moment – Charles said – I changed the approach to hand-to-hand.
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11:25 am – How does it work?
Instead of the second free practice, the qualification for the sprint race starts, which assigns the winner 8 points, the second 7, the third 6, the fourth 5, the fifth 4, the sixth three, the seventh two and the eighth one.
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Ore 11:22 – C’ la sprint race
The Austrian one will be the second stage of the world championship in which the Sprint Race will be staged, a 100-kilometer race that will take place on Saturday and which counts as qualifying for the grid for the real Sunday Grand Prix. But that also awards points.
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July 8, 2022 (change July 8, 2022 | 17:29)
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