Austrian GP: Max Verstappen tops crucial practice from Ferrari duo ahead of qualifying

Max Verstappen delivered an ominous show of pace to top practice for Red Bull at the Austrian Grand Prix ahead of qualifying later on Friday.

World championship leader Verstappen finished more than 0.2s clear of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz despite opting not to use the softest - and theoretically quickest - tyre during the opening session of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring.

The session was of particular importance, with qualifying for Sunday's race to come at 4pm on Friday as Spielberg hosts the second Sprint weekend of the 2023 season, which sees Sprint qualifying and a shortened race take place on Saturday.

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In an improved display from Ferrari, Charles Leclerc took third behind his team-mate Sainz, while Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was fourth having topped the timesheet for much of the session after displaying impressive early pace on the hard tyre.

Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who remains the Dutchman's nearest title challenger despite trailing by 69 points, could only manage fifth as he seeks to end a dismal run of form.

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Lance Stroll took sixth to outpace team-mate Fernando Alonso, with the Aston Martin duo split by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.

George Russell could only manage ninth for Mercedes, while the addition of major upgrades to Lando Norris' McLaren got off to a rocky start as the Brit was left bottom of the timesheet having damaged the car's new floor.

With just 60 minutes for drivers and teams to set up their cars for the remainder of the weekend, the circuit was busy from start to finish, with the majority of the session spent preparing for the longer running that will be seen in Saturday's Sprint and Sunday's Grand Prix.

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There was evidence of issues that are likely to arise in the weekend's two qualifying sessions, with both track limits and traffic providing additional challenges for the drivers.

Several drivers pushed the limits and ran off track, with the deleting of times that will occur for such offences in qualifying a potentially crucial factor.

Meanwhile, the short nature of circuit means that, particularly in the first and second parts of qualifying, traffic is inevitable.

Those dangers were highlighted by a near miss between Stroll and Alpine's Pierre Gasly, with the Aston Martin driver appearing surprised to find a second car on his rear wing having let an AlphaTauri through moments earlier.

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There is likely to be plenty of complaining during qualifying, with the stewards likely to come in for an extremely busy afternoon.

While Verstappen is undoubtedly the clear favourite to claim a fifth successive victory on Sunday, jeopardy remains for the two-time world champion with adverse weather possible later on Friday and likely over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Verstappen was exposed to the risks Saturday's shortened Sprint format can throw up earlier this season in Baku, when an early collision with Russell blew his chances of victory.

Red Bull seek to continue their winning run in 2023 as they return to their home track for the Austrian GP - watch live on Sky Sports F1 from June 30-July 2. Get Sky Sports