FP1 LIVE | The first free practice for the Austrian Grand Prix

Liveblog: FP1 in Austria 

Sprint weekend in Austria

The first free practice session is more important than usual. There is only one hour of preparation for this afternoon's qualifying session. After this first practice, the right set-up has to be found for one fast lap, for a sprint race and for the full race on Sunday. The second 'sprint weekend' of the year, just like the previous ones, yields a possible 34 points.

This year, not three points are awarded to the winner, but no less than eight. The entire top eight earns one point less than the person in front of them. The winner of the sprint race no longer gets pole position behind his name in the statistics. That will be achieved this afternoon during qualifying. However, the winner of the sprint race on Sunday will start at the front.

The battle for victory

 

 

 

 

 

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Like every race this year, it looks like it will be between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari this weekend. Red Bull has an excellent track record at its home circuit and especially Max Verstappen seems unbeatable in the Austrian hills. In recent years Verstappen has won four out of six races. Last year there were even two races a week apart at the circuit which he won both.

An outsider for this weekend is Mercedes. At Silverstone, the team was once again able to compete with the top teams and Lewis Hamilton took his third podium of the year. Although the team's statistics in Austria are not in favour of Mercedes, nothing is ever ruled out. Perhaps after the first free practice, it will be possible to say whether Mercedes is there or not.