Styrian Grand Prix FP1 Results

Racing Point has come out swinging for round 2 for the FP1 session at The Styrian Grand Prix leading the pack at the Red Bull Ring. 

Sergio Perez showed good pace albeit on the red compounds in the Friday session leading the likes of Verstappen by 0.096 with the Arrows trailing by 0.222 and 0.253 seconds. Compared to the last week, Perez falls 0.051 seconds behind Hamilton’s round 1 FP1 time on the same circuit just 7 short days ago.

Seeing the Mercedes duo not top the sheet may be a bit of a surprise until you remember they were on the step harder compound while dealing with a “critical” gear box issue from last week’s grand prix, no less. I would expect a massive drop in times for the pairing of the 6th time world champion and season opening winner. The session was mostly free of mistakes or incidents due to the drivers being cautious given the limited resources. Latifi was the only stoppage in the front half of the session due to gear box problems.

McLaren and Ferrari bring notable upgrades to aerodynamics with Ferrari sporting the red cars with a new front wing, rear diffuser, and Leclerc specifically testing a new floor.

Haas struggles continue as as Kevin Magnussen could only put in 3 laps and missed most of the session with a battery issue. Having Grosjean only good enough in the session for P16, Haas have a long, uphill battle to climb to return to anywhere near the points in the VF-20.