2014 AUSTRIAN GP: LEWIS HAMILTON FASTEST ON FRIDAY PRACTICES

Located in the Styrian mountains, the teams got a taste of the changeable weather that characterises the Red Bull Ring, with intermittent rain throughout the day. The second free practice session was dry, enabling Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton to set a fastest time of 1m09.542.

The Red Bull Ring is short and generally low-speed, meaning that not a huge amount of energy is put through the tyres over one lap. As a result, the supersoft – which is so far around 0.6 seconds faster than the soft – could also be a strong race tyre, as well as providing extra speed in qualifying.

Two pit stops are expected for the race, subject to data analysis, as there is no relevant historical data to fall back on. Warmer weather is anticipated for the rest of the weekend, although the possibility of localised rain remains.

FIRST FREE PRACTICE

DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1. Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	1:11.295		19
2. Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:11.435	+ 0.140	32
3. Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:11.606	+ 0.311	23
4. Felipe Massa	Williams	1:11.756	+ 0.461	27
5. Jenson Button	McLaren	1:11.839	+ 0.544	33
6. Sergio Perez	Force India	1:12.009	+ 0.714	33
7. Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:12.072	+ 0.777	20
8. Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:12.114	+ 0.819	21
9. Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	1:12.312	+ 1.018	36
10. Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:12.364	+ 1.069	30
11. Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:12.365	+ 1.070	21
12. Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:12.372	+ 1.077	35
13. Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:12.570	+ 1.275	28
14. Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	1:12.984	+ 1.689	19
15. Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	1:12.988	+ 1.693	25
16. Romain Grosjean	Lotus	1:13.168	+ 1.873	28
17. Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	1:13.642	+ 2.347	27
18. Jules Bianchi	Marussia	1:13.738	+ 2.443	26
19. Max Chilton	Marussia	1:13.857	+ 2.562	28
20. Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham	1:14.611	+ 3.316	24
21. Adrian Sutil	Sauber	1:14.691	+ 3.396	9
22. Marcus Ericsson	Caterham	1:17.501	+ 6.206	8

SECOND FREE PRACTICE

DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1. Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:09.542		37
2. Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	1:09.919	+ 0.377	50
3.Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:10.470	+ 0.928	40
4. Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:10.519	+ 0.977	44
5. Felipe Massa	Williams	1:10.521	+ 0.979	39
6. Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	1:10.807	+ 1.265	39
7. Jenson Button	McLaren	1:10.812	+ 1.271	44
8. Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	1:10.920	+ 1.378	36
9. Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	1:10.936	+ 1.394	45
10. Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:10.972	+ 1.430	39
11. Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:10.974	+ 1.432	45
12. Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:11.261	+ 1.719	45
13. Sergio Perez	Force India	1:11.296	+ 1.754	36
14. Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	1:11.491	+ 1.949	42
15. Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	1:11.765	+ 2.223	30
16. Adrian Sutil	Sauber	1:11.806	+ 2.264	42
17. Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	1:11.935	+ 2.393	39
18. Max Chilton	Marussia	1:12.229	+ 2.687	43
19. Romain Grosjean	Lotus	1:12.262	+ 2.720	46
20. Jules Bianchi	Marussia	1:12.279	+ 2.737	36
21. Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham	1:12.937	+ 3.395	24
22. Marcus Ericsson	Caterham	1:13.596	+ 4.054	48