Max Verstappen set the pace in a disrupted Practice 1 at the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday.
On this Sprint weekend, the one-hour session was the only chance for teams to fettle their cars ahead of qualifying later at the Red Bull Ring.
And the reigning world champion was impressive from the start as he posted a 1m06.302s to top the lap times.
Verstappen also set his best time earlier than most, as he countered traffic several times in the final two corners on subsequent laps.
Charles Leclerc improved late on to finish a quarter of a second behind in P2, with George Russell four-tenths back in third.
It all went wrong for Lando in practice ?
The McLaren driver jumped out quickly after reporting smoke from under his seat ?#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/NhwvHU3gkV
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 8, 2022
The session was disrupted by two red flags as Lando Norris pulled off reporting smoke in the cockpit and a hot seat.
Shortly after, a piece of debris just off the racing line also had to be retrieved between Turns 7 and 8, requiring a stoppage.
McLaren’s woes were compounded by a DRS issue on Daniel Ricciardo’s car, as the upper flap was seen oscillating violently when open.
The late addition of a gurney flap did seem to improve the issue, but it meant the Woking-based team got no soft tyre running in before qualifying.
Back in the standings, Sergio Perez claimed fourth after struggling for pace in his initial runs, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fifth as Mercedes appeared relatively competitive.
Kevin Magnussen was sixth and Mick Schumacher ninth as both Haas cars featured in the top 10 despite being seen with errors at the crucial Turn 3.
K-Mag up to P5 ?
Schumacher into P9 ?Early promising signs from @HaasF1Team #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/I7volnNbZT
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 8, 2022
Silverstone race winner Carlos Sainz was seventh followed by Fernando Alonso’s Alpine and Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10 for AlphaTauri.
Further down, the two Aston Martins sat 11th and 13th, with Valtteri Bottas, who will start at the back of the grid due to new engine parts, 14th.
Towards the back, Pierre Gasly was a disappointing 16th, while Zhou Guanyu returned to the cockpit for the first time since his crash at Silverstone in 18th.
Nicholas Latifi was 19th as Norris brought up the field after stopping early on.
Full results from FP1 can be seen below:
? FP1 CLASSIFICATION ?@Max33Verstappen leads the way into quali! #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/h5cq7YuCB4
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 8, 2022
