Austrian GP: Leclerc leads Hamilton in final practice

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive
 

Charles Leclerc remained the man to beat heading into qualifying as he led final practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Monegasque would blitz the middle sector at the Red Bull Ring to beat Lewis Hamilton by almost 0.150s, while the Mercedes held a small advantage at the start and end of the lap.

Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel would follow in third and fourth as the top four drivers were covered by just 0.263s on the Spielberg circuit.

Red Bull couldn't quite keep up with Max Verstappen almost half a second behind Leclerc in fifth.

Across the garage, Pierre Gasly's session was blighted by power issues, leaving the Frenchman down in seventh.

Between the two Bulls was Lando Norris in sixth, as McLaren continued as 'best of rest'. The Briton though would be a second off the leading pace which is substantial on a 64-second lap.

Teammate Carlos Sainz was eighth, but his times are largely irrelevant due to his pending engine penalty which means a back row start on Sunday.

Two unexpected names completed the top 10 as Antonio Giovinazzi impressed in P9 with Daniil Kvyat just behind in the Toro Rosso.

This as Renault and Haas struggled to repeat their strong pace from Friday.

Nico Hulkenberg, who also has a grid penalty, was only 12th, while Daniel Ricciardo finished 17th in the tight pack, with the Australian's time only 0.7s slower than Gasly in P7.

As for the American team, Romain Grosjean was down in 15th with Kevin Magnussen 18th and facing a possible grid penalty as Haas work to change his gearbox.

It is allowing other midfield runners to shine, with Kimi Raikkonen 13th and Sergio Perez 14th for Racing Point.

But what is for sure is, with lap-times so close, every hundredth may count in the battle to make Q2 and Q3 in qualifying.

And that may well be true at the front too, as Ferrari and Mercedes go head-to-head for pole in what will be an exciting session.

Full results from final practice can be seen below:

 

         

 

 

Search