Rosberg sets Red Bull Ring lap record in FP1

Spielberg, Austria - Championship leader Nico Rosberg clocked the fastest ever lap at the Red Bull Ring on Friday as he topped the times in an incident-filled opening free practice for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

Rosberg, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Monday, posted a best lap of 1min7.373s to outpace nearest rival and Mercedes team-mate, defending three-times champion Lewis Hamilton, by nearly four-tenths of a second.

Rosberg has a 24 point lead in the Drivers' championship ahead of Hamilton and this weekend is seeking his third consecutive victory in Austria since the circuit returned to the F1 calendar in 2014.

Hamilton was four-tenths of a second off the pace set by Rosberg as he wound up second, after some off-track excursions, ahead of four-times champion Sebastian Vettel and his under-pressure Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Daniel Ricciardo was fifth for Red Bull as they strove to impress on their 'home' Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps.

His team-mate, Dutch teenager Max Verstappen, was unable to stay with him and finished down in eight after a difficult session that saw him twice run off over the kerbs and damage his car.

Verstappen complained that the new kerbs on the circuit were 'unbelievable' and dangerous. Early in the session, he broke his front wing when he ran across the bright yellow kerbs at the exit of the penultimate corner.

Speaking on team radio, he said: “The yellow kerbs in the fast corners are really dangerous.... Those yellow things, it is just unbelievable.”

After repairs, he resumed, but crashed again into a gravel trap with half an hour to go, this time appearing to damage his car's front right suspension at Turn 6.

Carlos Sainz, who was confirmed this week as staying with Toro Rosso in 2017, was sixth ahead of Felipe Massa of Williams with Daniil Kvyat taking ninth in the second Toro Rosso and Valtteri Bottas of Williams 10th. - AFP

RESULTS

1 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes - 1:07.373

2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes - 1:07.730

3 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari - 1:08.022

4 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari - 1:08.222

5 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - 1:08.528

6 Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso - 1:08.803

7 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams - 1:08.824

8 Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull - 1:08.962

9 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - 1:08.990

10 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams - 1:08.998

11 Romain Grosjean (France) Haas - 1:09.078