REVIEW BY BEN STEVENS
FRIDAY
Once again for Lewis Hamilton, the
motorsport gods giveth, and the motorsport
gods taketh away.
First he has as good a Friday practice
as he’s had all season, barely bested by Max
Verstappen (on faster tyres) in FP1, then he
topped FP2 for the first time since the season
opener in Melbourne so naturally, he had to
make a gearbox change and pick up a 5-place
grid penalty.
Had Hamilton not have to make that
change, you’d have made him a strong
favourite to take the win here in Spielberg.
It’s readily apparent man and machine are
fully in sync, and while his 0.147s lead over
frenemy Sebastian Vettel isn’t anything
particularly remarkable, Mercedes always seem
to find more on Saturdays, making it an
ominous sign.
That said, is Hamilton’s pace advantage
enough to come-back from P6 on Sunday? It’s
hard to say. What little uninterrupted long-
runs we got from both Mercedes and Ferrari
suggest the former holds the advantage, but it’s
unlikely to be enough to let Hamilton catch all
the way up. On the bright side, they’ve now got
all Saturday to formulate a plan to pull it off.
Coming? Going? Rumours Abound for
Sainz and Verstappen
Just what in the name of all that is good
and cola-y is going on at Red Bull?