One Mercedes and one Red Bull crash out, while one Ferrari spins, as Leclerc ends unpredictable Austrian GP second practice on top
Friday 28 June 2019 20:59, UK
Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen crashed, while Sebastian Vettel span out, in an extraordinarily dramatic second practice session at the Austrian GP.
Little could be read into the final timesheet, topped by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, as two red flags and mistakes through the field meant only a couple of leading drivers completed their low-fuel qualifying simulations.
Verstappen was the first to crash, losing his Red Bull at the final corner and spinning backwards into the barriers.
Within minutes, Bottas was also in the barriers when he lost control of his Mercedes at Turn Five and went across the gravel and into a nose-first collision with the wall.
Both drivers emerged unscatched, with Bottas given the all-clear after a precautionary trip to the medical centre after a particularly heavy impact.
"I just lost the rear end suddenly into Turn Five. Very unexpected, made a correction, but it was a bit too late," Bottas told Sky Sports. "This afternoon is a bit windier and the track is very penalising on making mistakes. It can happen I guess."
Vettel also came a cropper at the final turn when the session again resumed as he set about what was on course to be the fastest lap, although the Ferrari driver avoided the barriers and simply damaged his tyres.
Amid the interruptions, Leclerc and third-placed Pierre Gasly were the only drivers at the front to complete quick laps on the soft tyres.
Bottas stayed second thanks to an earlier fast time, with Lewis Hamilton fourth - with the world champion just 0.4s off the pace despite his best lap coming on the hard tyres.
McLaren's Carlos Sainz was fifth fastest, although will take a 10-place grid penalty for a new engine, ahead of Haas' Romain Grosjean and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen.
Few form clues at end of incident-filled Friday
After the relative predictability of last week's French GP, the drama and unpredictability of Friday in the Austrian hills has proved the just tonic for Formula 1's amid its first double-header of 2019.
Since returning to the calendar in 2014, the short but fast Red Bull Ring has established a reputation as a car-breaker - with the yellow 'sausage' kerbs on the outside of corners proving especially brutal throughout Friday's running.
Variable gusting winds, particularly at the final two corners, were also attributed to Verstappen and Vettel's incidents.
"Everybody loves this track," said Sky F1's Martin Brundle. "There's not many corners, and some of them don't really count as corners because they are just effectively straight lines, so it makes those apexes that you really have to get right even more important for a hot lap
"It wasn't anything near as windy as Paul Ricard last week, so clearly it's swirling around at crucial moments."
Verstappen told Sky F1: "The cars this year are more sensitive to the wind, as you could also see with Valtteri who just lost it. A crash can happen, unfortunately."
The whole Austrian GP weekend is live only on Sky Sports F1. Sunday's race begins at 2.10pm with build-up from 12.30pm. Find out more about Formula 1 on Sky Sports
