Carlos Sainz led a Ferrari one-two in Practice 2 at the Austrian Grand Prix.
With the Sprint coming later on Saturday, teams focused on long run pace and whether to use the soft or medium tyres for the 100km race.
The difference in time was negligible between the compounds with the Spaniard and teammate Charles Leclerc setting their best laps on softs vs. Max Verstappen on older mediums in third.
Degradation though might be a different story as drivers appeared able to push flat out on the yellow-marked C4 rubber while the lap time ebbed away on the C5.
🏁 That’s practice!
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) July 9, 2022
Fernando finishes P4, Esteban P5.
Sprint race up next, let’s gooo. 👊#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/hXX8lh1syU
Alpine waited until the half-hour mark to start their programs, with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon finishing fourth and fifth thanks to their fresher tyres as track conditions improved.
Sergio Perez was sixth in the second Red Bull, over half a second off the pace though did abandon potentially faster laps in the final minutes.
After both drivers crashed in qualifying, Mercedes were in a race to repair the cars in time for the second session.
While George Russell was able to do a full program in seventh, despite a few niggly issues, Lewis Hamilton only got on track in the final 15 minutes and would finish ninth fastest.
Massive effort to get both cars out on track in FP2 💪 Work still to do, but bring on the Sprint 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ag1nMajhkP
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 9, 2022
In between was former Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas in eighth, who won in Austria for the Brackley-based team exactly five years ago today.
Lando Norris completed the top 10 for McLaren, with the braking issues from qualifying seemingly resolved.
With the exception of Russell, Aston Martin would be the only team to use all three tyre compounds during FP2 as Lance Stroll finished 11th and Sebastian Vettel 13th.
Both Haas' may be starting in the top 10 but, based on the standings, could face a rearguard action in the Sprint as Mick Schumacher was only 15th and Kevin Magnussen 18th.
Mick is back out, this time on the 🔴 softs.
— Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) July 9, 2022
Less than 30 minutes to go in the session. #HaasF1 #AustrianGP #FP2 pic.twitter.com/eYnLoQZ5qs
Alex Albon finished 16th in the upgraded Williams, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in 17th as his difficulties continue.
Yuki Tsunoda and Nicholas Latifi brought up the timesheet.
A close Sprint between the top three appears on the cards at the Red Bull Ring, with Russell a potential dark horse for Mercedes.
Full results from Practice 2 can be seen below:
It's a Ferrari 1-2, with Carlos Sainz topping the charts for our final practice in Spielberg 🇦🇹#F1Sprint is next... 🤩#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/aGsru3MaQf
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 9, 2022
