Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was fastest in second practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.
In second practice at the Austrian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton dominated the fastest, giving Mercedes hope of regaining some gap on Red Bull.
Hamilton won by 0.189 seconds over teammate Valtteri Bottas, with title challenger Max Verstappen trailing by 0.217 seconds.
After winning Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix on the same Red Bull Ring track, Red Bull’s Verstappen surged 18 points clear of Hamilton in the title.
Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martins finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Overall, Mercedes appeared to be in a lot better position than it had been a week before.
From Friday practice onwards, Mercedes appeared to be lagging behind Red Bull in the hotter circumstances last weekend.
Behind the top five, it was difficult to obtain a clear picture of performance due to an unusual day in which teams were also testing a prototype Pirelli tyre that will be used for the British Grand Prix in two weeks.
Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly placed sixth and seventh, ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Alpine, Lando Norris of
McLaren, and Antonio Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo. Norris also had a mishap late in the session, spinning as he went wide over the kerbs on the exit of Turn One and destroying his tyres.
His engineer inquired, “What damage do you have?” He jokingly replied, “Talent.”Leclerc had an incident as well, spinning as he pulled in from the curb on the entry to the fast Turn Nine, but keeping the car out of the wall.
Sergio Perez’s second Red Bull was only 11th fastest, withFerraris Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc 13th and 16th, Daniel Ricciardo’s second McLaren 15th, and Williams driver George Russell 17th.
