Verstappen causes red flag stoppage and STILL tops practice in Austria

Max Verstappen caused a red flag stoppage. The World Championship leader stopped just prior to the first corner and rolled backwards down the hill with a suspected engine fault. This could cause the Dutchman more headaches, as he is already likely to take a grid penalty for using an engine outside of the allotted amount later in the season. However, within a few minutes of the restart, Verstappen returned to the circuit. His quick thinking of rolling back down the hill possibly helped get him back on track sooner. Red Bull later said it was a sensor issue.

Hamilton set a time almost four-tenths faster than fifth-placed Verstappen. This stayed in place until the closing stages of the session. In the end, Hamilton slipped down to P5. Red Bull would've been pleased to see Sergio Perez much closer to his teammate and ahead of McLaren and Ferrari for much of the session. But Perez's quickest lap towards the end only put him 12th fastest. Oscar Piastri waved the flag for McLaren. He finished just over two-tenths down on Verstappen's fastest. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top four.

How the practice session in Austria happened

Teams and drivers have just one 60-minute practice session for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix weekend because the sprint format will be used. That makes practice around the Red Bull Ring one of the most important of the year. Some rain was forecast, but the session was completed in dry conditions. The track was busy immediately, with quick lap times for Mercedes, McLaren and Max Verstappen. Meanwhile, Aston Martin completed their usual laps to scrub tyres for later in the weekend.

Yuki Tsunoda had a moment at turn one. Norris reported that his steering felt a bit unusual and claimed it was similar to how it felt in Miami. After the first 10 minutes, Mercedes sat at the top of the timesheets with a difference of one-tenth to third-placed Norris. Verstappen raised the bar on medium tyres, but both Mercedes remained at the top with their hard compounds. With 38 minutes remaining, Mercedes had a four-tenth lead on Verstappen.

Nico Hulkenberg had a moment with Charles Leclerc, but the man from Monaco managed to keep his cool after last weekend's FP3 incident. Ferrari seemed to lag behind the other top teams in the opening half of the session. With 28 minutes remaining, Verstappen stopped on the track with a suspected engine fault but returned almost immediately after a quick reset. Long runs dominated the second half of the season, though teams found time to put on the softs in the closing stages.