F1 2022 results: Austrian GP – Second Practice session

Editor 09 Jul 2022 12:32 PM

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz on track during the Austrian Grand Prix. Spielberg, July 2022.

Ferrari have snatched a 1-2 in the final practice session ahead of the Sprint Qualifying race in Austria.

Ferrari have set the pace in the final practice session in Austria, with Carlos Sainz setting a 1:08.610 to pip Charles Leclerc by just half a tenth.

With the cars all locked in parc ferme conditions since qualifying began on Friday evening, it was a solid and unspectacular session across the field as no setup experimentation was possible.

Unsurprisingly, this meant that the top three from qualifying also occupied the top three at the end of the practice session.

While Sainz and Leclerc used the soft tyre compound for their quickest laps, Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull having used the medium tyre for his quickest time – the reigning Champion set a time a tenth and a half slower than what Sainz had managed.

Alpine enjoyed a strong session, with Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon claiming fourth and fifth and within a quarter of a second of Sainz’s front-running pace. Alonso and Ocon also set their fastest times on the medium compound.

Both Mercedes drivers were able to join in the session from about the halfway mark, having required extensive repairs from both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton crashing during Friday’s Q3 – the team were able to get the cars repaired during permitted hours on Friday evening and Saturday morning and neither driver has taken any components that will trigger a grid penalty.

Sprint Qualifying takes place on Saturday afternoon, and will determine the grid for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Here’s the full report on everything that happened during the second practice session at the Red Bull Ring.