Max Verstappen has led the first and only free practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix, the third of the season in sprint format and which this afternoon will give way to the Sprint shootout classification for Saturday’s short race. The Dutch driver managed to climb to first position with four minutes left, when he made his lap with new soft tires to position himself as the reference on the circuit owned by Red Bull (1.05.685).
Lando Norris tried to overtake Max, but was unable to complete his final assault and ended up in the gravel with the McLaren. The second place of these free places has also been for a papaya car, that of Oscar Piastriwhich finished just over two tenths behind Verstappen.
The Ferraris, with Leclerc three tenths behind in third positionin front of Carlos Sainz, They have managed to finish with an advantage over Hamiltonwho has not tried the soft ones, after both the seven-time British champion and his teammate Russell They will lead for many minutes on the Spielberg track, in a session that took place in dry conditions. Fernando Alonso has closed the provisional top ten, surpassed by Strollseventh in this round of trials.
Alarm at Red Bull
The Grand Prix did not get off to the best of starts for Verstappen, who suffered an electrical problem in his car during the session and brought out a red flag, although the interruption was very brief and he was able to resume the action without any major consequences.
MAX VERSTAPPEN HAS DECEIVED US ALL 😳
He alerted Red Bull of an engine failure… But he ended up returning to the track just six minutes later 😅 AND SHUTTING STROLL! 🦁#AustriaDAZNF1 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/wTP9xeRLnL
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) June 28, 2024
Max’s car stopped with 28 minutes remaining to finish the session at the Spielberg circuit. “I made an adjustment to the engine map and suddenly something broke,” warned the three-time champion over the radio, who had to be towed away by the stewards. The fault was resolved after a few minutes of work in the pits and Red Bull reported that it was a minor problem.
The session ended with Verstappen recovered and leading the timesheets, although with few ‘clues’ about what may happen at the moment of truth on Sunday and also this afternoon, starting at 4:30 p.m.n qualifying for the sprint race on Saturday.
2024-06-28 12:08:57
#Verstappen #starts #front #Red #Bull #home
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