Brendan Lines July 4, 2020 08:40am

Friday’s FP1 and FP2 sessions at the Austrian Grand Prix have given fans the first glimpse of Formula 1 cars driven in anger in 2020, as the ‘slumbering bear’ of F1 awoke from its lockdown hibernation, the Styrian Alps were a happy hunting ground for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who topped both sessions closely followed by teammate Valtteri Bottas.

A green track and cloudy conditions were a cold slap in the face to the reality of Formula 1, as Red Bull were quick to try and stamp out both Mercedes drivers deploying the new DAS (Dual Axis Steering) system first seen at Barcelona testing under much scrutiny.

After FP2 Red Bull’s Christian Horner formally submitted a protest to the FIA regarding the legality of DAS claiming it is part of the W11 suspension system and not wholly part of the steering system, both teams met with the FIA stewards later on Friday night.

The protest has this morning been thrown out by the FIA, the FIA’s verdict read:

“Therefore the stewards consider DAS to be a legitimate part of the steering system and hence to satisfy the relevant regulations regarding suspension or aerodynamic influence,” therefore Red Bull’s protest is “rejected as it is not founded.”

Lewis Hamilton in the all black W11 – Image Mercedes AMG F1

The Austrian GP hasn’t been too kind to Mercedes in the past, as an overheating Power-unit wrecked havoc for both cars in 2019. This time around there were some bugs for Mercedes to work out earlier in the day, a telemetry issue for Hamilton and a gearbox issue for Bottas stymied his early run.

But despite its early niggles the W11 looks quick out of the box, as Hamilton went over half-a second faster than rivals Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Sergio Perez (Racing Point) who were third fastest across the sessions respectively, but Hamilton is taking Friday’s result with a pinch of salt.

“It was looking good out there today, but you can never take too much from practice. You never know what power and fuel other teams are running. So we will take today’s result with a pinch of salt, try and improve the car tonight and come back for the fight tomorrow,” he said.

Racing Point impressed with its RP20, contentiously labelled the ‘Pink Mercedes,’ as Sergio Perez kept at the pointy end going fifth fastest in FP1. And third in FP2, Perez says there’s still a bit to play out closing the gap to the big teams.

Third fastest in FP2 Sergio Perez – Image: Racingpointf1.com

“It’s been an interesting day. Everything is really close out there, especially on such a short track. The car feels good and I’m happy. In the factory, the team has done a tremendous job and we have a car underneath us that is working well. There’s still a lot of work to do – tonight and tomorrow morning – but we are in decent shape. The margins are extremely close, so it’s going to be really important to put together some really tidy laps in qualifying tomorrow,” he said.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo posted top ten fastest finishes across both sessions, despite spending most of FP2 in the garage the Aussie’s best finish was fifth in FP2 with a 1:04.972 just over half a second adrift from Hamilton, but hot on the heels of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Perez.

Ferrari’s pace was very reflective of their doubts coming out of pre-season testing as Vettel and teammate Charles Leclerc barely put a dent on the top ten in FP1, but Vettel’s pace in FP2 improved going fourth fastest with a 1:04.961.

Further back in the field it was a forgettable day for Alpha Tauri, as Daniil Kyvat spun in both sessions struggling with the balance of the new AT01 and teammate Pierre Gasly couldn’t get a clean lap on the Option tyre.

Romain Grosjean sat out FP1 with a brake fluid leak and did not post a time, while teammate Kevin Magnussen was able to peak at ninth fastest in FP1, for FP2 the Haas cars ran high-fuel race simulations finishing 15th and 16th fastest.

Kimi Raikkonen says ‘it’s way too early’ to say where Alfa Romeo stands , Raikkonen went 15th and 19th fastest across both sessions with a 1:06.365 and 1:06.278 respectively, while teammate Antonio Giovinazzi placed 14th.

Williams debutant Nicholas Latifi struggled with his Williams under braking at turns one and three, while George Russell peaked a 17th fastest with a 1:06.495 in FP1.

FP3 begins 7.30pm local time tonight.