SPIELBERG, Austria – Six-time champion Lewis Hamilton resumed where he left off on the first day of the Formula One season, setting the fastest times on Friday in two practice sessions at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The last time he drove competitively was December 1, when he dominated and won the 2019 final at the Abu Dhabi GP. That capped his sixth F1 title to be one behind Michael Schumacher’s title record, and seven behind his career record of 91 career wins.
Seven months later, including a four-month season postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hamilton seemed typically safe.
“It’s great to be back, it’s been a long time coming,” he said. “It looked good out there today.”
The British driver finished twice ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas at the 4.3 kilometer (2.7 mile) Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg located at the foot of the Styrian mountains in southern Austria.
Bottas was .356 seconds behind Hamilton in the wet and cloudy morning race and improved to .197 when the track dried up and became warmer in the afternoon. At the end of that session, however, he had to return to the pits due to a braking problem.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, winner of the last two races here, was third fastest in first practice, but dropped to eighth in the second session and encountered oversteer issues.
Ferrari struggled for speed in the morning with Charles Leclerc 10th fastest and Sebastian Vettel only 12th, but improved in the afternoon with Vettel climbing to fourth behind Sergio Perez in third. The Pérez Racing Point team uses Mercedes engines.
Although Vettel showed good cornering speed, he was still at a distance of .657 seconds from Hamilton’s time in the second session.
Ferrari is competing with the same car that it used in pre-season testing in February and has not made any updates, while Mercedes and other teams do.
After making a late strategy decision in terms of aerodynamic development this week, Ferrari is not updating its cars until the third race in Hungary, where practice begins on July 17.
Ferrari fans hoping for a first title since Kimi Raikkonen’s win in 2007 may have little expectation.
Leclerc believes the car is not even as good as last year, when he finished fourth overall and Vettel was only able to achieve fifth place, lagging behind Hamilton at 173 points.
“It will be a very, very challenging season for us,” Leclerc said. “We still have these question marks and we still have to wait for the rating to be absolutely sure of what we say, even though we are 99% sure that we will have more difficulties than last year.”
Raikkonen continues to drive 19 years after finishing sixth in his F1 debut at the Australian GP, won by Schumacher. But Finn, 40, miscalculated a turn during P2 and his Alfa Romeo entered a gravel area.
There is a third and final practice on Saturday before qualifying.
Austria is organizing consecutive races as part of an eight-race European swing and spectators are not allowed.
In a surreal atmosphere, with vast and empty grandstands outside, drivers have been holding their press conferences inside while sitting in chairs two meters away with masks on.
The media do not have access to the paddock area where the teams are and they do not have direct contact with the drivers. Instead, they ask questions by video or email. All media at the site should be screened for the coronavirus every five days.
