Max Verstappen Crashes Out of Austrian GP Practice

Red Bull’s home race weekend got off to a bad start when lead driver Max Verstappen dropped the ball and spun into the barrier. The Dutchman lost the rear end of his car upon entering the final corner.

The car slid backwards and into the wall, wrecking the rear suspension and effectively ending his session. However, he was not the only victim of the fast-paced circuit. In FP1 a number of drivers explored a fair few extra inches of the track.

Unfortunately, some drivers were not able to get away with simply running wide. The likes of Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll inflicted minor front wing damage to their cars. Nico Hulkenberg on the other hand, was not so lucky and destroyed his left front wing.

Also in FP2, the red flags were brought out when Valtteri Bottas also ended his session early. The Finn had a massive snap of oversteer and lost control in trying to correct the car. The W10 skittered across the kitty litter and went nose first into the wall. The impact obliterated his front wing and front suspension.

Needless to say, the Red Bull and Mercedes crew will be in for a fairly long night to fix their respective cars. Meanwhile, in spite of his off-track moment in FP1, Lewis Hamilton was able to recover and top the session. The defending champion was ahead of rival, Sebastian Vettel and his own teammate Valtteri Bottas. Vettel’s teammate Charles LeClerc 4th, ahead of the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly respectively.

Completing the top 10 were, Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen and Lando Norris. It was a disappointing first session for the Alfa Romeo and the SportPesa Racing Point duos, finishing ahead of only the perpetually struggling Williams Racing team. Sadly, the two teams were behind the Toro Rosso drivers as well.