Lewis Hamilton posted the quickest time in first practice for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday.
The Briton had a tricky session blighted by understeer issues and causing damage to two front wings on the harsh kerbs around the Red Bull Ring.
But it wouldn’t stop him from setting a 1m04.838s to lead Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari by 0.144s.
Offering some optimism for a competitive weekend, however, the German posted his time on the Medium tyre compared to Hamilton on Soft.
Valtteri Bottas was third fastest with Charles Leclerc three-tenths off the leading pace on the same C3 compound as Vettel.
The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly completed the top six, the Frenchman finishing much closer to his Dutch teammate than in recent races.
Carlos Sainz continued right where he left off from Paul Ricard as he led the midfield pack in seventh, holding a solid three-tenths advantage over Daniel Ricciardo in eighth.
The McLaren/ Renault fight may just have a new participant in Spielberg though, with Haas showing signs of repeating their strong recent form in Austria.
Kevin Magnussen was ninth and Romain Grosjean 11th for the American team, with the second McLaren of Lando Norris sandwiched in between.
Toro Rosso also appear pretty strong with Daniil Kvyat and Alex Albon 12th and 13th.
Nico Hulkenberg had a tricky session, however, as traffic left the German only 14th fastest. Then, in the final minutes, he would break his front wing over the sausage kerb in Turn 9, dragging debris across the circuit and causing a red flag.
Racing Point and Alfa Romeo have work to do in the lower half of the midfield as Williams continue to bring up the field.
Full results from Practice 1 can be seen below:
