Austrian F1 Grand Prix 2017 Qualifying: Hamilton Sets FP2 Pace, Results, Times

Lewis Hamilton topped both free practice sessions on Friday at the 2017 Formula One Austrian Grand Prix, ahead of Max Verstappen and then Sebastian Vettel.

The Englishman recorded a time of one minute, 5.975 seconds, putting him 0.190 seconds in front of the Dutchman in FP1. Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top three ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, with Daniel Ricciardo splitting him and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

In FP2, he topped the standings with a 1:05.483, narrowly ahead of Vettel and Bottas.

FP2 Recap

Formula One's official Twitter account revealed the timesheet for FP2:

It took just seven minutes for Bottas to top Hamilton's earlier time as he wrested top spot from Raikkonen and Vettel:

The Silver Arrows duo and the German continued to duel for first place as the teams piled the laps on early because of the threat of rain, though Verstappen, Jolyon Palmer and Fernando Alonso struggled to do so with work being done on their cars in the garage.

Marcus Ericsson went off the track for the third time on Friday when he went wide at Turn 4, while Sainz had yet more trouble staying on:

That would prove the final straw for the Toro Rosso driver, whose session was brought to an end after his car appeared to spring a leak as a result.

At the top of the standings, Hamilton was able to record his winning time just inside half an hour, but neither Vettel, Bottas nor a resurgent Verstappen were able to top the effort.

FP1 Recap

Formula One's official Twitter account shared the classification at the end of the session:

Verstappen was the first to set a time as he enjoyed a bright start to the morning, and he quickly set about improving on it.

By contrast, both Raikkonen and Vettel faced some early problems as they each spun their cars several minutes apart:

While the Ferraris dealt with their own issues, the two Mercedes had a duel for top spot as Hamilton and Bottas traded places, though Vettel was able to split them for a time after recovering from his spin.

Further back, Lance Stroll, Felipe Massa, Pascal Wehrlein, Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz all came off the track at various points as they struggled for grip, while Romain Grosjean's wide run at Turn 9 saw him suffer a puncture for his troubles.

Aside from the Haas man, none of the drivers particularly damaged their cars as a result, though, so the session otherwise remained largely unaffected.

Verstappen split Hamilton and Bottas with an impressive late run in the final minutes of the session, and he looked as though he might top the timesheet with one last effort, only for another spin to curtail it.