Vettel in control as Hamilton hits trouble in final Spielberg practice

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive
 

Sebastian Vettel topped the sheets in the final practice session with a lap record time as title rival Lewis Hamilton hit trouble with brake failure in Austria.

The Ferrari/Mercedes battle started early with the drivers trading top times throughout the session but the German was able to grab the best time for the weekend, a 1:05.092s, followed by Hamilton in second while Bottas grabbed third.

It wasn't all smooth for Hamilton, however, as he briefly held up Vettel as the two completed shorter runs towards the end before a brake failure approaching Turn 3 ended his final practice early.

Kimi Raikkonen was able to move back up to fourth in the second Ferrari ahead as Red Bull secured the third-best team spots with Max Verstappen beating Daniel Ricciardo to finish fifth and sixth

The two Haas' were the surprise front runners in the midfield with Kevin Magnussen in seventh, as he was on Friday, just ahead of French team-mate Romain Grosjean, who is enjoying a better weekend.

Similarly, Toro Rosso impressed in ninth and 10th with just five thousandths of a second between Daniil Kvyat in ninth and Carlos Sainz in 10th. The Spanish driver should be satisfied, however, as he bounced back after his session started with an engine problem leaving the pits. His car was recovered and the junior Red Bull team was able to get him back on the circuit halfway through the session.

Well down the order, both Williams cars finished a disappointing 16th and 17th in a huge surprise at a circuit the British team is usually very strong at. Lance Stroll was able to finish ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa, but given the positions that likely won't encourage the Canadian.

Their main rivals Force India are also struggling with Sergio Perez a disappointing 18th  although his team-mate Esteban Ocon was fairing a little better in 11th.

Renault and McLaren completed positions 12-15 with Nico Hulkenberg at the front. Stoffel Vandoorne led Jolyon Palmer as Fernando Alonso, who has had to switch back to an old spec Honda unit completing the pack finishing 15th. All four driver posted times in the mid-to-high 1:06.5s'.

Sauber completed the timesheet with Marcus Ericsson finishing ahead of team-mate Pascal Wehrlein with 19th and 20th positions respectively, but the Swiss team at the nearest race to their factory in Hinwil were half a second down on the rest of the grid.

 

         

 

 

Search