World Champion Max Verstappen set the pace during Friday practice for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
Verstappen, who has won in Austria on a record four occasions, moved to the front early on in the sole one-hour session prior to qualifying later on Friday.
His time of 1:06.302s left him 0.255s clear of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.
Mercedes wound up third and fifth respectively, with George Russell in front of Lewis Hamilton, either side of Sergio Perez.
The session, which was busy due to the limited track time prior to qualifying, was interrupted by two red flags.
The first came when Lando Norris stopped in the middle sector amid reports of smoke emanating from beneath his seat, leaving him at the foot of the 20-driver standings.
The second was caused by cables working loose from beneath the kerbs on the exit of Turn 6.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was an impressive sixth, with British Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz seventh, ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Haas’ Mick Schumacher.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.
Aston Martin had Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel 11th and 13th respectively, sandwiching Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with Valtteri Bottas a notional 14th.
Bottas, who has suffered a spate of reliability setbacks this year, has taken on fresh power unit components which means he has exceeded his 2022 limit.
As a result he will start Sunday’s grand prix from last on the grid – though can start F1 Sprint from wherever he qualifies later on Friday.
Alex Albon was 15th in the upgraded Williams, while Pierre Gasly was 16th, in front of a low-key Daniel Ricciardo.
Zhou Guanyu returned to Formula 1 action after his terrifying Silverstone accident and was 18th, with Nicholas Latifi 19th in the old-spec Williams.
Qualifying for F1 Sprint is scheduled to begin at 17:00 local time.
[motorsport_result id=’88039′]
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