Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg went quickest in the opening practice session at the Red Bull Ring as Formula One returned to Austria for the first time since 2003. The championship leader finished just over a tenth ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with Fernando Alonso third for Ferrari.
One the short, fast 4.3km circuit just a second covered the top 10 but it was it was still the Mercedes pairing that set the pace with Rosberg and Hamilton on top for the bulk of the session. Indeed, Mercedes-powered machinery dominated, with Felipe Massa fourth for Williams, four tenths of a second down on Rosberg’s time, and Jenson Button fifth for McLaren. Sergio Perez was sixth for Force India, ahead of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and the second McLaren of Kevin Magnussen in ninth.
Tenth place went to Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne, apart from Alonso the only non-Mercedes-powered member of the top 10.
Conditions for the opening practice session were mixed, with cool temperatures and a light sprinkling of rain contributing to a complicated acclimatisation process for the drivers.
The conditions and a surface low on grip led to several spins, the most notable being for Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel who was lucky to avoid major trouble when he spun on the exit of the final corner. The defending champion bounced through the grass, completed two complete spins but managed to regain control and steer his RB10 back to the pits.
Red Bull Racing had an anonymous first showing at the team’s home track, with Daniel Ricciardo 13th and Vettel 15th.
Elsewhere, 11th-fastest Kimi Raikkonen trialled another of the sport’s attempts to improve the spectacle by running a titanium plate on the bottom of his car in order to create sparks at the back of the car. Rosberg also ran with a similar plate during the session.
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m11.295s 19 laps2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m11.435s +0.140s 323. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m11.606s +0.311s 234. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m11.756s +0.461s 275. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m11.839s +0.544s 336. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m12.009s +0.714s 337. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m12.072s +0.777s 208. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m12.114s +0.819s 219. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m12.313s +1.018s 3610 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m12.364s +1.069s 3011 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m12.365s +1.070s 2112 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m12.372s +1.077s 3513 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m12.570s +1.275s 2814 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m12.984s +1.689s 1915 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m12.988s +1.693s 2516 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m13.168s +1.873s 2817 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m13.642s +2.347s 2718 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m13.738s +2.443s 2619 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m13.857s +2.562s 2820 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m14.611s +3.316s 2421 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.691s +3.396s 922 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m17.501s +6.206s 8inShare
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