Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix 2021: Max Verstappen tops Free Practice 2, Daniel Ricciardo 2nd- Red Bull’s Max Verstappen one again topped the practice session on Friday while Daniel Ricciardo was the second-fastest in FP2. Esteban Ocon finished third while reigning World champion Lewis Hamilton ranked 4th and Fernando Alonso ended 5th.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his flying start to the Styrian Grand Prix weekend as he topped FP2 at the Red Bull Ring, ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
Conditions were tough on Friday: thick dark clouds loomed threateningly and a stiff tailwind blew multiple drivers off the track at Turn 3. But bar a few spots of rain, conditions remained mostly dry and Verstappen set the benchmark of 1m05.412s halfway through the session.
The Dutchman began by clocking up unrivalled mileage on hard tyres, then used the softs to eclipse McLaren’s Ricciardo by 0.336s, to go fastest with just over 30 minutes remaining. Alpine’s Ocon finished third, just 0.042s behind Ricciardo.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, barely a hundredth behind Ocon, while Valtteri Bottas finished 12th. Mercedes had their drivers on split programmes, the Finn beginning on softs and ending on hards contrary to Hamilton. Bizarrely, Bottas spun exiting his pit box with 18 minutes remaining – with McLaren’s crew kindly pushing him back on track.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, runner-up in FP1, was prevented from running in FP2 as Honda noticed a problem with his power unit ahead of the session.
Practice 2 results
| POSITION | TIME |
|---|---|
| 1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing | 1:05.412 |
| 2 Daniel RICCIARDO McLaren | +0.336s |
| 3 Esteban OCON Alpine | +0.378s |
| 4 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes | +0.384s |
| 5 Fernando ALONSO Alpine | +0.415s |
Ocon’s team mate Fernando Alonso finished under a tenth off Hamilton in P5, and a tenth faster than Aston Martin racer Sebastian Vettel. In turn, Vettel’s team mate Lance Stroll was eighth in this session – McLaren’s Lando Norris splitting them for seventh.
That left Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ninth, just ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, with the top 10 split by just seven tenths, P2 to P10 split by four tenths of a second.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz spun at Turn 5 early on in FP2 but carried on to finish 11th, just ahead of Bottas, who found himself sandwiched by Ferraris as Charles Leclerc took 13th.
Kimi Raikkonen was the last driver within a second of Verstappen, putting his Alfa Romeo 14th – just over a tenth behind his 10th-place team mate.
Fifth-place in FP1, Yuki Tsunoda could only put his AlphaTauri 15th in FP2 – ahead of Williams’ George Russell in P16.
Haas’s pair lined up 17th and 18th: Mick Schumacher half a second faster than Nikita Mazepin. The Russian spun at Turn 5 – mirroring Sainz by collecting too much gravel on the outside of that tricky downhill corner.
Just before Mazepin’s incident, Nicholas Latifi spun his Williams at Turn 6 just 20 minutes in by collecting the gravel at high speed – but he avoided the barriers. Latifi finished last of the runners, in 19th, as Gasly was confined to the pit wall throughout the session.
Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix 2021: Max Verstappen tops Free Practice 1, Pierre Gasly 2nd – Follow live updates – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the fastest in Free Practice one with a timing of 1:05:910 seconds, 200th of a second ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly. The former Red Bull driver took the 2nd spot ahead of reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes in the Styrian GP.
| POS | DRIVER | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:05.910 | 34 | ||
| 2 | 1:06.166 | +0.256s | 33 | |
| 3 | 1:06.332 | +0.422s | 32 | |
| 4 | 1:06.386 | +0.476s | 34 | |
| 5 | 1:06.397 | +0.487s | 36 | |
| 6 | 1:06.519 | +0.609s | 36 | |
| 7 | 1:06.551 | +0.641s | 35 | |
| 8 | 1:06.584 | +0.674s | 33 | |
| 9 | 1:06.614 | +0.704s | 29 | |
| 10 | 1:06.629 | +0.719s | 36 | |
| 11 | 1:06.630 | +0.720s | 33 | |
| 12 | 1:06.669 | +0.759s | 38 | |
| 13 | 1:06.696 | +0.786s | 33 | |
| 14 | 1:06.708 | +0.798s | 32 | |
| 15 | 1:06.848 | +0.938s | 32 | |
| 16 | 1:06.861 | +0.951s | 35 | |
| 17 | 1:07.180 | +1.270s | 31 | |
| 18 | 1:07.473 | +1.563s | 30 | |
| 19 | 1:07.823 | +1.913s | 30 | |
| 20 | 1:08.081 | +2.171s | 31 |
After the French Grand Prix, the focus now shifts to the Steiermark Grand Prix. The tournament will take place over 71 laps of the 4.318-kilometre Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on Sunday, June 27. The main contest will be between Max Verstappen of Red Bull and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. The reigning F1 world champion Hamilton will look to reduce his gap against Verstappen in the upcoming Formula 1 race.
Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix 2021 Schedule
June 25: Practice 1 (3 pm to 4 pm)
June 25: Practice 2 (6.30 pm to 7.30 pm)
June 26: Practice 3 (3.30 pm to 4.30 pm)
June 26: Qualifying (6.30 pm to 7.30 pm)
June 27: Race (6.30 pm to 8.30 pm)
Venue: Red Bull ring
Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix 2021: Schedule, Timings, Driver Standings, LIVE streaming; all you need to know
The Styrian Grand Prix returns for 2021 as Spielberg hosts the first of two rounds at Austria’s Red Bull Ring.
The 2020 season began with a double-header at Red Bull’s home circuit and the Styrian Grand Prix provided the second of the two rounds. Here in 2021, Styria kicks off the first of the two rounds and we have a scintillating championship battle on our hands.
Reigning Champion Lewis Hamilton goes into the weekend without having won any of the last three Grands Prix, and with a 12-point deficit to rival Max Verstappen in the title race.
Furthermore, Red Bull have a strong, but not insurmountable, 37-point lead in the Constructors’ Championship after the nail-biting French Grand Prix.
Formula 1 Driver Standings
| GRAND PRIX | WINNER | CAR |
|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | MERCEDES | |
| Emilia Romagna | RED BULL RACING HONDA | |
| Portugal | MERCEDES | |
| Spain | MERCEDES | |
| Monaco | RED BULL RACING HONDA | |
| Azerbaijan | RED BULL RACING HONDA | |
| France | RED BULL RACING HONDA |
Formula 1 Steiermark GP 2021 LIVE streaming
Star Sports India will broadcast the Formula 1 race LIVE streaming. You can also catch all the LIVE action on OTT-platform Hotstar.
| ASIA | Fox Sports Channels STAR Sports (Indian subcontinent) |
Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix 2021: Schedule, Timings, Driver Standings, LIVE streaming; all you need to know
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