F1 Austrian GP: Carlos Sainz tops final practice ahead of sprint race
9th July 2022Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz topped final practice ahead of his teammate, Charles Leclerc, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as the sport headed towards the Sprint Race, later on today.
How final practice unfolded…
When the pit exit light went green, the Alfa Romeo’s were one of the first cars to go out on the Austrian Red Bull Ring for the final practice session, ahead of Saturday’s Sprint Race.
While in the Mercedes garage, the Silver Arrow Mechanics were busy at work repairing the damage that both their drivers’: Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, had caused in Friday’s qualifying session.
The FIA released a report, prior to the start of FP2, of which Mercedes declared they were to change the survival cell for Hamilton’s W13.
Naturally, Alfa Romeo’a Guanyu Zhou set the first lap time but this time was soon beaten by McLaren’s Lando Norris who topped the session with a 1:10.670, on the soft compound tyres. This running would be vitally important for the Briton as the #4 McLaren had a horrid time in qualifying because he was uncertain about his brakes and finished qualifying 20-seconds off the pace, in Q2.
However, it wasn’t long before Ferrari topped the timing board as Carlos Sainz jumped to P1 with a 1:09.833. But, this time was soon beaten by his Monegasque teammate, Charles Leclerc, who went two-tenths quicker.
It wasn’t long before Red Bull reigning world champion, Verstappen, topped the timing board with a 1:09.170.
After 10 minutes, Russell’s car was the first Mercedes to be repaired and ready for track action. While, on the other side of the garage, Hamilton’s car was still being worked on. However, on the out lap, Russell quickly returned back to the garages after the young Briton completed an installation lap.
As the session reached its halfway mark, Hamilton remained he only driver to yet to set a lap time while his teammate, Russell, had climbed up to P3 with a quick lap time on the softs. Russell was soon demoted down to P5 as he was overtaken by the likes of Sainz and Perez.
When the session entered its final quarter, Ferrari’s Sainz and Leclerc, the latter sat at the top with a 1:08.610, ahead of Verstappen. However, both Ferrari’s best times were set on the soft tyres while the defending world champions time was set on the medium compound tyres.
With just under 15 minutes left on the clock, Hamilton was able to enter the track after his mechanics finally repaired the seven-time world champion’s W13 to Parc Fermé spec. With only a limited amount of running, Hamilton went out on the soft compounds.
After his first lap time, Hamilton jumped up to P9 and slotted inbetween Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Norris. However, this lap time could be down to fuel load as Mercedes could have filled the W13 with enough fuel to see out the session.
Top three:
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
That’s it for the article: F1 Austrian GP: Carlos Sainz tops final practice ahead of sprint race! Who do you think has the edge for the Sprint Race, later on today? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula 1 here!
- F1 Austrian GP: Max Verstappen secures pole as both Mercedes crash out
- F1 Austrian GP: Max Verstappen hits ground running in Spielberg
- F1 British GP: Carlos Sainz takes maiden win
- F1 British GP: Carlos Sainz secures maiden pole position
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
