Austrian Grand Prix - Lewis Hamilton fights back to cut Max Verstappen momentum in FP2

Hamilton, Mercedes, Styria — Photo: © LAT Images

Austrian Grand Prix

Austrian Grand Prix - Hamilton fights back to cut Verstappen momentum in FP2

Hamilton and Bottas finished faster than Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring

Ewan Gale

Friday 2 July 2021 16:03 Updated: 17:12

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Lewis Hamilton topped second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix as Mercedes restored hope it could prevent Red Bull from taking a fifth victory in a row.

The seven-time champion set a time of one minute 04.523secs to lead Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.189secs, with Max Verstappen a further 0.028secs adrift in third.

The session began with teams completing the required number of laps allocated by Pirelli in order to test the prototype rear tyres provided ahead of potential implementation for the British Grand Prix.

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Each driver was required to complete 12 timed laps across two sets of the tyre provided at any point throughout the day.

Mercedes threw the form book up in the air to take a one-two during the qualifying simulations, with Hamilton finding speed in middle and final sectors to top the session, breaking Verstappen's momentum after the Dutchman topped the morning's running.

Sergio Perez finished only 11th on his fastest run, although the Mexican was slightly out of sequence with the timing of his qualifying simulation.

Aston Martin battled back from a testing FP1 to finish fourth and fifth, with Lance Stroll over a tenth faster than Sebastian Vettel.

Yuki Tsunoda headed Pierre Gasly as AlphaTauri set the sixth and seventh fastest times, with Fernando Alonso again showing top-10 form - even after being blocked by both Mick Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen in the final sector.

Lando Norris finished ninth, six places and two-tenths ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the other McLaren - although the British driver spun at turn one at the end of the session - with Antonio Giovinazzi completing the top 10 for Alfa Romeo.

Ferrari finished 13th and 16th, with Charles Leclerc struggling with car balance for the second session in a row. The Monegasque suffered a massive snap of oversteer at turn nine, to which he said "that was a scary one" on team radio.

Drizzle in the first sector of the Red Bull Ring complicated the race simulation runs at the end of the session, with Hamilton slithering wide at turn four and narrowly avoiding the barriers.

The information gained during this time could prove crucial, with a similar weather forecast predicted for the race on Sunday.