Austrian GP: Max Verstappen tops Practice One ahead of Charles Leclerc before Friday qualifying

Max Verstappen hit the ground running on a bumper Austrian GP weekend by storming clear in first practice ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Ferrari and Mercedes struggling to keep up ahead of Friday’s qualifying.

Verstappen, in the only hour of practice before qualifying on a Sprint weekend, was quicker than his rivals from his first lap in anger to his last at Red Bull’s home track in Spielberg – and his 1:06.302 was 0.255s quicker than the Ferrari of Leclerc, who found pace towards the end of the session.

George Russell was 0.4s off in the fastest Mercedes in third, ahead of Sergio Perez and team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The return of the Sprint has shaken up the weekend in Spielberg, with qualifying moved to Friday at 4pm and setting the grid for the shorter race on Saturday, which in turn dictates the starting order for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

More to follow.

Sky Sports F1’s live Austrian GP schedule

Friday
1.55pm: F3 Qualifying
2.50pm: F2 Qualifying
3.30pm: Austrian GP Qualifying Build-up
4pm: Austrian GP Qualifying
5.45pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook

Saturday
9.30am: F3 Sprint
11am: Austrian GP Practice Two (session begins 11.30am)
2.30pm: Austrian GP Sprint Build-up
3.30pm: Austrian GP Sprint
4.50pm: F2 Sprint

Sunday
7.30am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
12.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Austrian GP Build-up
2pm: The Austrian Grand Prix
4pm: Chequered Flag: Austrian GP Reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook

F1 2022 heads to Austria this weekend, and the Sprint is back! Join Sky Sports F1 for extensive coverage, with the Sprint starting at 3.30pm on Saturday and the race at 2pm on Sunday.