2023-06-30 15:14:12
Vienna (Archyde.com)
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time in practice for his team at the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday, despite sticking to medium tyres, while his rivals set their best times on faster soft tyres.
The leader of the general standings recorded one minute and 05.742 seconds in his final test lap, over the Spielberg circuit, at the start of the second sprint race of the season.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished second, 0.241 seconds behind, on soft tyres, followed by his teammate Charles Leclerc, 0.270 seconds off the summit on his last lap.
Lewis Hamilton, a Mercedes driver and seven-time world champion, finished fourth, also using soft tires, following previously using hard tires, while Verstappen’s teammate and closest rival in the lead, Sergio Perez, achieved fifth place with medium tyres.
Perez, who is 69 points clear of Verstappen in the overall standings following eight of 22 races, missed the track on Thursday due to illness, according to press reports.
Sixth place went to Canadian Lance Stroll, an Aston Martin driver, who used soft tyres, ahead of Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and eighth-ranked Aston teammate Fernando Alonso who resorted to medium tyres.
These are the only free trials at the beginning of the week, while the qualifying trials for the Sunday race will take place later today, Friday, as tomorrow, Saturday, qualifying trials will be held for a 100-kilometer speed race that will follow its trials.
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