Leclerc on top in Austria as Bottas, Verstappen crash

Charles Leclerc topped the times for Ferrari ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly in an incident-filled second free practice at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. On a sweltering afternoon in the Styrian Alps, with an air temperature of 31 and the track at 55 degrees, defending fivetime champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel was eighth in the second Ferrari.

Max Verstappen, who wound up ninth, crashed his Red Bull as did Bottas later in his Mercedes, both men escaping unhurt. Carlos Sainz was fifth for McLaren ahead of Romain Grosjean of Haas, Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo, Vettel, Verstappen and British rookie Lando Norris in the second McLaren.

Five days after a flat, processional and uneventful French Grand Prix, the Spielberg circuit delivered the busiest and most chaotic free practice of the season with two red flag interruptions, for major accidents, as Mercedes struggled to repeat their customary supremacy. Hamilton had been fastest in the morning’s opening session, the first time this year he topped FP1, but it was a different story in the afternoon heat as Leclerc set the pace.

The Monegasque driver put his Ferrari on top after 16 minutes and despite being outpaced by Bottas and then Hamilton he found a response that lifted him beyond them again with half an hour remaining. By then, Bottas was back in the paddock after losing control of the rear end of his Mercedes at Turn Six where he slewed off into the gravel and hit the barriers head-on. Both front wheels broke free, but were retained in their tethers.

“Is he ok?” asked Vettel on Ferrari team radio, just 10 minutes before he, also, lost control of his car at T10 and managed to catch it, in a frantic flash of drama, before he crashed.