Hamilton sets record pace in Austria practice

Lewis Hamilton set a record-setting pace to top practice ahead of Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver clocked the fastest ever lap at the Red Bull Ring to top opening practice before going on to lower the benchmark in the second 90 minute session.

Hamilton’s blistering 1:05.483s effort put him 0.147s clear of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari.

Vettel prevented a Mercedes one-two by edging Valtteri Bottas by less than a tenth, although the Finn’s best effort before switching to long runs was hurt by a mistake in the final sector.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen kicked off the running with a 1:07.891s, but that was quickly beaten by a tenth by the soft-shod Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

Bottas used super-softs to lower the benchmark to a 1:06.690s, then became the first driver to dip below Hamilton’s FP1 best with a 1:05.869s.

He and Hamilton traded fastest laps before Hamilton and Vettel both failed to convert session-best individual sectors into an overall improvement while trying to match Bottas’ new best of 1:05.700s.

After pitting for ultra-soft tyres Bottas then set the fastest first and second sectors of the session but ran wide at Turn 9 and only managed to improve by 0.001s.

Bottas was lucky to avoid the barriers after sliding through the gravel trap on the exit of Turn 6 and spinning, and Vettel removed him from top spot immediately after with an ultra-soft lap of 1:05.630s.

A couple of minutes later Hamilton capped the flurry of ultra-soft efforts at the end of the opening half an hour with a 1:05.483s that remained unbeaten as drivers switched to race preparation.

Both the Red Bulls outpaced Raikkonen, Max Verstappen beating Daniel Ricciardo to fourth despite missing most of the opening half an hour with a brake problem.

Magnussen jumped to seventh just before the halfway mark, while Fernando Alonso also switched to ultra-softs later than most to claim eighth – though he had a trip through the Turn 6 gravel that caused him to spin in the final 10 minutes.

Nico Hulkenberg returned to the seat of his Renault for FP2 and went ninth-fastest, but team-mate Jolyon Palmer completed just seven laps and spent most of the session in the pitlane as the team worked on his RS17.

Toro Rosso drivers Carlos Sainz Jr and Daniil Kvyat also had their session end prematurely, Sainz after damaging the car running wide at Turn 9 and Kvyat with a brake problem.

Sauber was detached at the foot of the times, Pascal Wehrlein beating a frustrated Marcus Ericsson, who had a spin at Turn 1, a trip through the gravel at the downhill Turn 4 and went off at Turn 9 as well.

Result: Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix Free Practice 1