Max Verstappen fastest in Austrian GP practice

By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Spielberg

Max Verstappen finished fastest in the sole practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix – as Mercedes were fined £86 after Lewis Hamilton was caught speeding in the pits.

Verstappen saw off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by 0.241 seconds at Red Bull’s home race, with Charles Leclerc third. Hamilton finished fourth.

Spielberg is hosting Formula One’s second sprint event of the year which will see two qualifying sessions – one to decide the order for Sunday’s grand prix which takes place at 5pm local time (4pm BST) – and the other determining the starting grid for Saturday’s sprint race.

Practice has been slashed from three hours to just one to create greater jeopardy with the teams unable to gather as much data as they would like.

Red Bull are undefeated at the opening eight rounds of the season with Verstappen taking six victories to head the championship standings by 69 points.

And the Dutchman, perhaps predictably, raced to top spot in the first running of the weekend without even posting a lap on the speedier soft tyre compound.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez finished in fifth, half-a-second off the pace and one place ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s Mercedes team were hit with a 100 Euro (£86) fine after the British driver breached the pit-lane limit.

Hamilton, who earns £40million-a-season, was adjudged to have broken the 50mph limit by just 0.12mph.

Aston Martin were also hit with a fine – this time worth 300 Euros (£258) – after Fernando Alonso and team-mate Stroll drove too quickly in the pits.

Elsewhere, Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finished ninth for Mercedes, almost a second down on Verstappen, with Lando Norris bringing up the rear in his revamped McLaren machine.