Austrian GP: ‘Engine issue’ pauses Max Verstappen’s run but he still tops FP1
Max Verstappen is pushed in the pits after stopping on the track
Max Verstappen came back from a brief engine stoppage, said to be the result of a sensor issue, to top FP1 for the Austrian Grand Prix.
At a time when Verstappen is facing a potential engine grid penalty, a glitch during FP1 saw him come to a stop on the main straight but, pushed back into the pits, he was back on track just a few minutes later.
He went on to set the pace with a 1:05.685, putting him 0.276s up on Oscar Piastri while Charles Leclerc was third.
Max Verstappen sets the pace ahead of Oscar Piastri
After the brilliant sunshine of Barcelona, a rain drop or two greeted the drivers as the track went green for the one and only practice hour of the Sprint weekend.
Lewis Hamilton got the timesheet rolling with a 1:07.9, the drivers out on a mix of hard and medium tyres. Lando Norris, running McLaren’s old-spec front wing in a comparison test, slotted into third behind the two Mercedes drivers.
Max Verstappen joined the Mercedes battle for P1, the Dutchman trading blows with George Russell and Hamilton. Nico Hulkenberg had a moment with Charles Leclerc, the Haas driver declaring: “All these cry babies here with the traffic.”
20 minutes into the session it was still Russell v Hamilton v Verstappen for the top spot with Hamilton then coming through with a 1:06.254 to set the pace.
And surprisingly, Race Control had yet to announce a single lost lap time because of track limits after the race organisers laid gravel down on the outside of the turns.
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Yuki Tsunoda was having a few problems and asked RB to change his steering wheel column only to be told “not now, end of the session”.
His problem though, weren’t as bad as Verstappen’s as the reigning World Champion came to a stop on the main straight, reporting “engine issue” as he shook his head. That brought out the red flags with the marshals coming to his aid to push his Red Bull through an exit panel in the pit wall.
But only a handful of minutes later the Dutchman was back on track, joining his rivals for the final 23 minutes of the session.
Alex Albon had a close call as he moved off the line for traffic, but wasn’t told there were actually two cars coming so returned to the racing line only to catch out Tsunoda. Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen both ran wide and off well off the track.
The final 10 minutes saw the traditional soft tyre runs, Lance Stroll up to second place, Tsunoda P4 and the Stake team-mates into the top ten. The top four teams though, had yet to make the swap.
Charles Leclerc, who had been languishing in P8, went fastest but lost out to Verstappen while traffic hampered Russell and Norris went flying off the track having gone purple in the first sector.
The session ended with Verstappen P1 with a 1:05.685, putting him 0.276s up on Oscar Piastri while Leclerc was third.
Times
1 Max VERSTAPPEN 1:05.685
2 Oscar PIASTRI +0.276
3 Charles LECLERC +0.370
4 Carlos SAINZ +0.443
5 Lewis HAMILTON +0.569
6 Esteban OCON +0.612
7 Lance STROLL +0.699
8 George RUSSELL +0.701
9 Yuki TSUNODA +0.894
10 Fernando ALONSO +0.918
11 Pierre GASLY +1.049
12 Sergio PEREZ +1.098
13 Lando NORRIS +1.195
14 Guanyu ZHOU +1.234
15 Valtteri BOTTAS +1.240
16 Daniel RICCIARDO +1.277
17 Nico HULKENBERG +1.281
18 Alexander ALBON +1.310
19 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +1.460
20 Logan SARGEANT +1.574