Rosberg twice breaks Michael Schumacher's outright Red Bull Ring lap record; Hamilton distant second after spin, Verstappen crashes
Monday 4 July 2016 13:07, UK
Nico Rosberg recorded the fastest-ever lap around the Red Bull Ring as Mercedes' world championship leader made a scintillating start to the Austrian GP in Practice One.
The German is unbeaten in Austria since the country returned to the calendar in 2014 and during the course of Friday's opening session, he twice broke Michael Schumacher's all-time benchmark of 1:07.908, which was set in qualifying in 2003.
The 2.6-mile track has been resurfaced for this year's race and significantly quicker lap times than 2015 had been expected.
Rosberg's best time of 1:07.373 on ultrasoft tyres was 0.357 seconds quicker than team-mate Lewis Hamilton could manage.
When is the Austrian GP on Sky?
After a mistake-ridden qualifying gave way to a difficult race last time out in Baku, Hamilton's P1 featured a spin into the gravel at Turn Four and other off-course moments.
Rosberg also ran through the gravel as most drivers were caught out by the challenging track - with Red Bull's Max Verstappen paying the biggest price for his mistakes.
The 18-year-old had already broken his car's front-wing endplate against the newly-installed 'sausage' kerbs on the exit of Turn Eight, before clobbering his right-front suspension over the same kerbing at Turn Five.
With his steering broken, the RB12 ran into the Turn Six gravel trap where it because beached, ruling Verstappen out of the remainder of the session. He finished eighth fastest.
"There should be a punishment for running wide but maybe that's a bit too harsh," Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1. "I don't think we're going to make a big noise about it to be honest."
Hamilton on the brink of penalties
Romain Grosjean, attempting to avoid a spinning Hamilton, and Rio Haryanto also pirouetted round, while numerous drivers found the circuit's run-off areas.
Ferrari finished third and fourth with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen respectively, but were 0.6s back on Rosberg's leading pace. Vettel's attempts to stay in touch with the Mercedes duo in the Drivers' Championship are set to be compromised this weekend by a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.
On their own track, Daniel Ricciardo was fifth quickest for hosts Red Bull, ahead of the newly re-signed Carlos Sainz for junior team Toro Rosso.
McLaren finished well down the timesheet in 13th and 14th, but it proved a session of discovery for the team as they trialed a new low-drag rear wing and floor on Fernando Alonso's MP4-31. With rain forecast for Practice Two, which begins at 1pm BST, McLaren were understandably keen to complete their assessments of the new parts early.
Practice One timesheet
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:07.373
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:07.730
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:08.022
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:08.222
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:08.528
6. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:08.803
7. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:08.824
8. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:08.962
9. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:08.990
10. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:08.998
11. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:09.078
12. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:09.280
13. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:09.365
14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:09.567
15. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:09.707
16. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:09.775
17. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:09.851
18. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:09.929
19. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:10.110
20. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:10.314
21. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:10.493
22. Alfonso Celis, Force India, 1:10.860
