George Russell secured the best time in the first free training for the Grand Prix of Austria in Spielberg in 1: 05,542 minutes.
On the short route with just 65 seconds travel time, Russell referred his competitors Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Oscar Piatri (McLaren) to places 2 and 3.
Both McLaren and Ferrari be used in the first free training on the Red Bull Ring. At McLaren, Lando Norris, whose cockpit was taken over by Alexander Dunne, paused from Ireland. Dunne is born in 2005 and finished 4th with only 0.224 seconds.
He was the big surprise of the first free training, because that a junior can keep up so well straight away is unusual in Formula 1.
Especially since he was only a few more a few more a few more a second fractions than World Cup leader Piatri in the same car. According to Boxenfunk, he had the feeling that he was “not yet pushed enough in the fast corners”.
Ferrari junior is more difficult
At Ferrari, Charles Leclerc refused his cockpit to create a way for Ferrari-Junior Dino Beganovic. Beganovic, born in 2004, comes from Sweden and is currently in the tenth position of the Formula 2 overall ranking. He was 18th in training, with a gap of 0.827 seconds.
Verstappen, in which Red Bull-Heimat Austria something like a local hero, did not feel comfortable in the RB21 at the beginning of the session and was next to the route several times. Brake balance, tire stability, wing settings: Verstappen criticized several factors. His car feels “strange” and “does not really distract”, he sparked once. After a few changes, however, he said: “That felt better now.”
There were problems with Lewis Hamilton, who initially had to end his program after 13 rounds. There was talk of gear problems on the Ferrari boxing radio. Only about twelve minutes before the end of the session was Hamilton going out again and pushed up to 9th place with the soft tires.
While there were several small driving errors and a bremble, the training start at the Red Bull ring remained accident-free. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) got the most spectacular scene when he turned in the target curve – and then on the box radio: “That was the worst out lap that we could have driven. Fortunately, happened in FT1.”
Where can you see the Grand Prix of Austria live?
The Formula 1 weekend in Spielberg cannot be seen live on German free TV. As always, the Pay TV provider Sky broadcasts all sessions live.
The qualifying report starts on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., on Sunday Sky starts at 1:30 p.m. Start is at 3:00 p.m. In Austria this time the ORF, in Switzerland, broadcasts the SRF in Switzerland.