The British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), reigning world champion, signed the best time of the first free practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix, th

Hamilton dominates the first free practice session of the Austrian GP

submited by

Style Pass

2020-07-03 12:17:50

The British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), reigning world champion, signed the best time of the first free practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix, the first date of the 2020 Formula 1 World Cup, this Friday at the Red Bull Ring circuit (4,318 km) from Spielberg.

Second in the session was his Finnish Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, and the third fastest time was for Dutch Red Bull Max Verstappen.

With the start of this weekend in Austria the curtain is finally on for the F1 season, which should have started in Australia in March but was suspended at the last moment by the new coronavirus pandemic.

In Austria, a strict sanitary protocol has been designed, which includes the absence of a public, to allow the dispute of this Grand Prix.

Race director Michael Masi explained on Friday in a virtual press conference that he does not believe that a positive case known these days would lead to the cancellation of the Grand Prix, although he explained that the decision will correspond "to the local health authorities."