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Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off in France by finishing fastest in opening practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The five-time world champion, who holds a 36-point title lead over Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, edged out Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel by 0.144 seconds.
At a sweltering Red Bull Ring, Bottas finished third ahead of Vettel's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc. Max Verstappen was fifth in the order.
CLASSIFICATION – FP1 It's @LewisHamilton at the top in a rapidly-roasting Spielberg 🙏#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/8b1iebLEkq
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 28, 2019
Hamilton has been in devastating form this season, winning six of the opening eight rounds.
The British driver, 34, led every lap en route to a crushing victory at Le Castellet last Sunday and was the pace setter in the first running on Friday.
Hamilton's Mercedes team are unbeaten this year but there will be some encouragement for Ferrari, with Vettel in striking range of the Silver Arrows.
Hamilton's closest title challenger is likely to come in the form of Bottas but the Finn's weekend did not start in the best fashion after his Mercedes team found an oil leak.
UPDATE: @ValtteriBottas' start in #FP1 delayed due to an oil leak. The boys in the garage are currently swapping the Power Unit in order to properly inspect it out of the car.#AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/ffg08AHmJ4 — Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) June 28, 2019
Bottas' mechanics discovered the issue an hour before the session and performed a speedy engine change to ensure their driver was able to complete his running as usual.
The 90-minute session ended prematurely after Renault's Nico Hulkenberg ran over the kerbs at the penultimate corner and sustained damage to his front wing.
The German managed to get back to the pits but with debris from his Renault on the track, the running was stopped with four minutes to go.
Red flag; debris on track. Our debris in fact. Quite specifically, part of The Hulk's front wing. Both cars return to the garage. #RSspirit #AustrianGP #FP1 pic.twitter.com/O3ZjnJDL3J — Renault F1 Team (@RenaultF1Team) June 28, 2019
British teenager Lando Norris finished 10th for McLaren, 1.2 seconds off the pace.
George Russell ended the best part of one second ahead of his Williams team-mate Robert Kubica in 19th position.
On a promising morning for Williams, the British novice was just five hundredths adrift of the next slowest car, Racing Point's Lance Stroll.
