F1 Daily round-up: Mercedes wary, Championship battle alive & analysis

Back-to-back Grand Prix weekends at the same circuit might create an expectation that the second race will be a carbon copy of the first. But Friday in Austria proved these claims with some interesting movements up and down the grid. In your F1 Daily round-up, GPblog gives you the most important stories from the day.

As soon as Lewis Hamilton posted a picture of himself inside the Mercedes simulator to his Instagram story, it became clear Mercedes were searching hard for gains ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. Mercedes and Hamilton himself confirmed this news during the Thursday press conferences. You know it's serious when Hamilton steps into a simulator which the British champion has previously admitted to disliking.

56% of Hamilton's total 0.217-second advantage over Verstappen occurs in the first sector of the circuit. The first sector consists of the home straight, a right turn followed by another long straight. Perhaps one of the most basic of sectors across the whole of the 2021 Formula 1 schedule. Read the full analysis here.

The last time Mercedes won a race was in Barcelona. Since then Max Verstappen has won three races and Sergio Perez managed to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Sky Sports analysts Karun Chandhok and Paul di Resta look at the difficulties Mercedes are having at the moment.

"Just two races ago, Lewis Hamilton came within a lap and a half of winning the French Grand Prix. Had they pitted a lap earlier, they would have been in a better position to win that Grand Prix. memory is short in this paddock. For everyone thinking championship battle is over based on last week...it's not," assured Chandhok. Read the full story here.

Lewis Hamilton was reasonably satisfied after the first two free practices in Austria. The Englishman finished seventh after the morning session, while he set the fastest time in the afternoon. The seven-time world champion expects a difficult battle with Verstappen.

"I don't think I'm going to change much on it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, that's usually the motto. We always try to get something more out of it, but that usually only makes it worse. So I'm only going to make minimal adjustments," said Hamilton. Read the full story here.

The result of Mercedes in the second free practice can be called surprising. After a dominant weekend of Verstappen, last weekend Mercedes seems to have found something.

"The conditions are quite different to last week, cooler air and a much cooler track which is certainly helping deal with the softer compounds. The single lap was encouraging in that we were extracting good grip from the tyres, not always something we have managed on the softest Pirelli rubber, but we're under no illusion that Red Bull will have plenty in hand for tomorrow," said the Mercedes engineer. Read the full story here

Max Verstappen coasted to top spot in FP1 for the Austrian Grand Prix, as he picked up where he left off after the Styrian Grand Prix. The Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Sainz completed the top three. After victory in the Styrian Grand Prix last weekend, Verstappen stamped his authority on the race weekend early doors as he topped the timesheets in FP1. He'll be looking to make it three race wins in a row after winning last weekend, and in France before that. Click here to read the FP1 report in full.

Lewis Hamilton has topped the second practice session ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, with Valtteri Bottas completing a Mercedes one-two. Max Verstappen rounded out the top three and was just 0.217 seconds behind his title rival. The session saw plenty of surprises on the leaderboard, with the midfield turned upside down. Click here to read the full FP2 report.