Max Verstappen monopolised first practice for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday to underline his status as the one to beat this weekend at the circuit owned by his Red Bull team.

The world champion has an impressive record at the charming compact track set in the Styrian countryside, winning four of the past six races.

And after a dry session the Dutch driver topped the time sheets by .255s from the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Mercedes’ George Russell was four tenths of a second back in third with Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton completing the top five.

Teams faced a tricky morning trying to glean as much data as possible in half the time due to the staging on Saturday of the season’s second sprint race.

For full report click here.

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