Styrian GP: Verstappen goes fastest, Honda power leads the way in FP1

Max Verstappen went fastest to keep the Red Bull feel-good factor going during first free practice at the team’s home race. 

Max Verstappen continued Red Bull Racing’s positive momentum as he went fastest in FP1 for this weekend’s Styrian GP.

The Red Bull driver underlined the straight-line speed of his car in low downforce trim by setting a session best time of 1m05.910s.

Verstappen headed Red Bull stablemate Pierre Gasly who finished second. The Frenchman’s Alpha Tauri car suits the point-and-squirt nature of the Red Bull Ring; he instantly looked at ease.

Moreover, it highlighted a strong session for Honda. Three of the top five cars in FP1 all had a Honda powertrain in the car.

The two Mercedes drivers broke up the Honda-powered cars as Hamilton and Bottas finished third and fourth. Bottas could arguably have gone fastest had it not been for a mistake at the final corner.

Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon also finished in the top ten for the Alpine team. Alonso managed to string a lap together after he had several laps get deleted for track limits infringements.

Robert Kubica returned to the tarmac for another outing in the Alfa Romeo. The veteran driver experienced a few off-track excursions but finished ahead of Nikita Mazepin.

With some rain forecast for this afternoon’s session, all cars completed a healthy amount of running. Consequently, that did create some issues for drivers with traffic.

Bottas and Antonio Giovanazzi almost collided on their way to the Remus Curve, while Gasly spectacularly took evasive action not to block Verstappen.

It didn’t hinder the Flying Dutchman, and he got his weekend off to the best start by going fastest.

Final Classification