Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of FP1 for the Austrian Grand Prix as both Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel suffered from reliability issues.
On a cool Friday morning in Austria, Rosberg posted a best lap of 1:10.401 on the soft tyre to lead team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.3s. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was third on a 1:11.028, but his team-mate Sebastian Vettel propped up the standings after stopping on track after four laps.
Vettel had just completed his first timed lap - over 5s off the pace - when he ground to a halt out of Turn 1, pulling off track with smoke coming from his brakes. The Ferrari was parked in a position where it could be recovered and was back in the garage with a little under an hour of the session remaining, but Vettel never rejoined.
The quadruple world champion was still not the first driver to suffer problems, however, with Alonso failing to even complete one full lap before his McLaren hit trouble. Alonso radioed in to tell the team his engine had cut out at Turn 8, with his momentum allowing him to coast down the pit lane back to the garage.
Alonso attempted to return to the track after an hour of the session but moved forward an inch before looking round at his mechanics and remaining in the garage. The Spaniard eventually rejoined to complete 10 laps but never ran the new McLaren front wing, ending the session 2.8s off the pace.
Jenson Button was just 0.3s ahead of his team-mate as McLaren began the weekend over 2.5s off the pace and only a second ahead of Will Stevens in the Manor. The result will not be overly surprising for McLaren, with the team expecting to struggle on a circuit where power unit performance is critical.
While the Mercedes drivers were the only two to dip in to the 1m10s, both had off-track moments as low grip levels made life difficult throughout FP1. Hamilton had been set to challenge Rosberg's time before he went off at the penultimate corner and then locked up heavily in to Turn 1, failing to improve after those excursions.
Fourth was Valtteri Bottas as Williams again looked competitive in Austria - a circuit where it took a 1-2 in qualifying last year - with Felipe Nasr fifth for Sauber ahead of the two Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo. Max Verstappen, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez completed the top ten, though Massa was part of a near-miss in the pit lane.
The Williams was released from its pit box in the opening stages of the session just as Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene attempted to cross the pit lane in front of him. Fortunately, Massa spotted Arrivabene and stopped, allowing the Italian to jump back out of the way before apologising.
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| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:10.401 | 36 |
| 02 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:10.709 | 28 |
| 03 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:11.028 | 22 |
| 04 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:11.452 | 26 |
| 05 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:11.633 | 28 |
| 06 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:11.642 | 31 |
| 07 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:11.724 | 29 |
| 08 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:11.825 | 38 |
| 09 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:11.890 | 29 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:11.905 | 37 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:11.948 | 32 |
| 12 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:12.004 | 34 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:12.031 | 36 |
| 14 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus | 1:12.050 | 27 |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:12.159 | 30 |
| 16 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:12.920 | 30 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:13.272 | 10 |
| 18 | Will Stevens | Manor | 1:13.937 | 29 |
| 19 | Roberto Merhi | Manor | 1:15.459 | 11 |
| 20 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:15.684 | 4 |
