Sergio Perez got Racing Point’s weekend off to a strong start by leading the first practice session for the Styrian Grand Prix.
He lapped the circuit in 1’04.867, just under a tenth of a second quicker than Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. The two Mercedes were next, two-tenths of a second off Perez’s pace, while Lance Stroll put the other Mercedes-powered RP20 in the top five.Ferrari ran their updated SF1000 for the first time but only one of the team’s cars figured inside the top ten. Sebastian Vettel’s best effort was a 1’05.770, leaving them as the seventh-fastest team.
However the lap times remained very close on F1’s return to the shortest track on the calendar. Vettel was just nine-tenths of a second off pace-setter Perez, and a thousandth of a second off Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault.
Formula 2 driver Jack Aitken made his debut in an official F1 practice session and set the 17th-quickest time in his Williams. Team mate Nicholas Latifi ended the session 19th, but covered just six laps before a failure halted his FW43.
Alfa Romeo driver Robert Kubica also participated in the session, taking over Antonio Giovinazzi’s car. He set the 18th-quickest time, three-tenths of a second off team mate Kimi Raikkonen.
More technical problem hindered Haas’s progress. Kevin Magnussen failed to set a time after logging just three laps.
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2020 Styrian Grand Prix first practice result
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’04.867 | 32 | |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’04.963 | 0.096 | 31 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’05.089 | 0.222 | 30 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’05.120 | 0.253 | 29 |
| 5 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’05.396 | 0.529 | 36 |
| 6 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’05.483 | 0.616 | 28 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’05.602 | 0.735 | 39 |
| 8 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’05.698 | 0.831 | 26 |
| 9 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’05.769 | 0.902 | 31 |
| 10 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’05.770 | 0.903 | 25 |
| 11 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’05.815 | 0.948 | 28 |
| 12 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’05.837 | 0.970 | 28 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1’05.874 | 1.007 | 35 |
| 14 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’05.908 | 1.041 | 25 |
| 15 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’06.441 | 1.574 | 23 |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’06.446 | 1.579 | 30 |
| 17 | 40 | Jack Aitken | Williams-Mercedes | 1’06.768 | 1.901 | 35 |
| 18 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’06.797 | 1.930 | 31 |
| 19 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’09.598 | 4.731 | 6 |
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First practice visual gaps
Sergio Perez – 1’04.867
+0.096 Max Verstappen – 1’04.963
+0.222 Valtteri Bottas – 1’05.089
+0.253 Lewis Hamilton – 1’05.120
+0.529 Lance Stroll – 1’05.396
+0.616 Alexander Albon – 1’05.483
+0.735 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’05.602
+0.831 Pierre Gasly – 1’05.698
+0.902 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’05.769
+0.903 Sebastian Vettel – 1’05.770
+0.948 Daniil Kvyat – 1’05.815
+0.970 Charles Leclerc – 1’05.837
+1.007 Esteban Ocon – 1’05.874
+1.041 Lando Norris – 1’05.908
+1.574 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’06.441
+1.579 Romain Grosjean – 1’06.446
+1.901 Jack Aitken – 1’06.768
+1.930 Robert Kubica – 1’06.797
+4.731 Nicholas Latifi – 1’09.598
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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Oxnard (@montalvo)
10th July 2020, 11:45
On which compound did both Ferrari’s do their best time?
pSynrg (@psynrg)
10th July 2020, 11:55
@montalvo Soft for both.
mpax
10th July 2020, 12:28
Perez was clearly exceeding track limits coming out of turn 4 entering turn 5 on his lap, being all four wheels outside track limits. That was at least as obvious as the Stroll incident and yet his lap time didn’t get deleted. Was surprised that the commentators didn’t pick it up, but then again Crofty didn’t really notice Stroll’s lap time getting deleted as well until he wondered why he wasn’t on the timing screens, so yeah. Did someone else pick that up? Or are track limits handled differently at that part of the track?
AP (@active)
10th July 2020, 12:33
In a flash news release Mercedes has admitted mistakenly supplying Bottas’s engine to Racing Point. To rectify this a minor reset was remotely sent to the engine by Mercedes technicians. Although this has been denied pictures taken by an anonymous drone show data being uploaded from the roof of a Covid free toilet.
magon4 (@magon4)
10th July 2020, 13:17
Mercedes on mediums
magon4 (@magon4)
10th July 2020, 13:18
they still have a half second margin
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
10th July 2020, 14:38
Wouldn’t it be funny if Fernando starts next season ahead if the Ferraris…haha
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
10th July 2020, 15:18
Practice 1: A Hass driver just setting 3 laps. That sound familiar to a week ago….
This team needs to sort out their problems. Before people say it is the drivers, I disagree. They don’t cause the level of reliability issues and poor mistakes during pit stops.
nickkr251
11th July 2020, 4:30
Well done Perez !