Friday's summary: Verstappen favourite for pole, Bottas has grid penalty

As usual, Friday was dominated by the first and second free practice sessions. Both Red Bull and Mercedes have proved strong at the Red Bull Ring in the past, but after today Max Verstappen with Red Bull Racing is the favourite for pole position.

Track limits in Spielberg

According to race director Michael Masi, the track limits in Spielberg would not cause any major problems. The drivers would know where the limits are. Nevertheless we saw many problems in turn 9 and 10. Several drivers, including Verstappen, lost their laps due to the track limits. When driving in these corners with all four wheels outside the track, the time of the driver will be taken away.

Verstappen is the fastest man

In both the first and second free practice session the Dutchman was the fastest on track. He seems to be the favourite to take pole position in tomorrow's qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton set the third and fourth fastest time across the two sessions. However, the Briton's best time, which was slightly faster than Verstappen's, was taken away by track limits. Daniel Ricciardo came a surprising second in FP2 for McLaren.

The Alpine and Aston Martin teams also went well on this track. In the second free practice both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were in the top five. Aston Martin-drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll finished in sixth and eighth.

Penalty for Bottas

Valtteri Bottas received a three-place grid penalty. During the second free practice, Valtteri Bottas had an awkward moment in the pit lane. He spun out of the car and had to be pushed back into position by the McLaren mechanics. They were not happy about this, because Bottas was close to hitting members of the team. After the training the Mercedes driver had to report to the stewards, and he was handed the grid penalty.

GP of Turkey is back

Today it was announced that the Turkish GP will be on the calendar after all. First the race in Canada was supposed to be replaced by Turkey, but due to coronavirus measures Turkey was cancelled as well. Now it is known that the circuit will participate later this season as a replacement for the Singapore GP.