Spielberg, Austria: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time in both practice sessions for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday.
The British driver was 0.147 seconds faster than championship leader Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari in the afternoon, having been 0.19 ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in the morning.
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was third best in both sessions, but went off track three times.
The only glitch for Hamilton, meanwhile, was to come in to the pits briefly for a spark plug change in P2.
“I still have the issues with power,” Hamilton said near the end of the session. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
That may give Mercedes pause for thought heading into Saturday’s final practice and qualifying.
The Spielberg track, nestled amid rolling hills and forests under the imposing Styrian Alps, was slippery and caused problems on Turns 1, 6 and 7.
Verstappen, fourth fastest in P2, said his tires were “all over the place” in the afternoon.
Both Toro Rosso cars failed to finish P2.
Spanish driver Carlos Sainz Jr. went off track early on and Russian Daniil Kvyat rolled back to the garage with flames jetting out from his left rear tire.
Fernando Alonso was eighth best in P2 on an encouraging day for the struggling McLaren team. However, the Spanish driver was also one of several to spin on Turn 6, and again on Turn 7 and into the gravel.
Bottas also went into the gravel at much the same place as Alonso early into the afternoon’s session, having spun his car twice in the morning.
In P1, Vettel clipped the kerb at Turn 1. Verstappen, Haas driver Romain Grosjean, and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr. wobbled on the same turn — as did Hamilton late into P1.
The build-up to the race was overshadowed by the bitter fallout from the heated Vettel-Hamilton clash in Azerbaijan.
Two weeks ago in Baku, an irate Vettel swerved into Hamilton, albeit at slow speed, because he thought the British driver slammed his brakes on recklessly late, right in front of him, seconds earlier.
Vettel was given a time penalty during that race but escaped further punishment from the FIA, motorsport’s governing body, following a hearing on Monday.
At a packed news conference Thursday, Vettel made a full apology which Hamilton accepted — although he maintained the German driver should have been further punished over the incident.
Both said the matter is closed.
In the championship standings, four-time champion Vettel leads three-time champion Hamilton by 14 points after eight races.
