Austrian GP: Rosberg tops practice 1

Under threatening skies that finally let loose in the last 30 min of the session, Mercedes continued their dominance of the 2014 F1 season Friday at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Nico Rosberg was fastest in first free practice for the Austrian Grand Prix with his teammate Lewis Hamilton not far behind.

Rosberg's 1m11.295s best lap was done early in the session before periods of rain began.

Fernando Alonso was third for Ferrari, the Spaniard ahead of Felipe Massa's Williams and Jenson Button, these three the only other drivers to break through the 1m12s barrier.

The Red Bull Renaults were out to lunch on a track where horsepower is king. World champion Sebastian Vettel endured a difficult session on Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz's home circuit, was only 15th fastest and did a 720-degree spin across the grass exiting the final turn.

Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo was 13th.

Results

Pos Driver Team Time Behind Laps
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m11.295s +0.000s 19
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m11.435s +0.140s 32
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m11.606s +0.311s 23
4 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m11.756s +0.461s 27
5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m11.839s +0.544s 33
6 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m12.009s +0.714s 33
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m12.072s +0.777s 20
8 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m12.114s +0.819s 21
9 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m12.313s +1.018s 36
10 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m12.364s +1.069s 30
11 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m12.365s +1.070s 21
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m12.372s +1.077s 35
13 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m12.570s +1.275s 28
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m12.984s +1.689s 19
15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m12.988s +1.693s 25
16 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m13.168s +1.873s 28
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m13.642s +2.347s 27
18 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m13.738s +2.443s 26
19 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m13.857s +2.562s 28
20 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m14.611s +3.316s 24
21 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m14.691s +3.396s 9
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m17.501s +6.206s 8