Austrian GP: Rosberg outpaces Hamilton in opening practice

The championship leader's 1:07.373 was already a full second quicker than last year's pole position, as the new track surface proved quicker straight away.

Rosberg finished over three tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton, both men setting their best times on Pirelli's ultrasofts.

Sebastian Vettel was third for Ferrari, but over six tenths slower than Rosberg, ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Carlos Sainz was sixth in the Toro Rosso, ahead of Felipe Massa's Williams and the second Red Bull of Max Verstappen, whose session came to an early finish after he damaged his car over the revised kerbs.

Verstappen was the first man to appear on the timesheets as he completed a lap on supersoft tyres, his run including a big sideways moment at Turn 3.

A five-lap run saw the Red Bull driver lower the benchmark to a 1:10.099 at the 10-minute mark before returning to the pits.

Rosberg shot to the top with the first sub-1m10s lap of the weekend, before Hamilton posted a 1:08.808 as the session reached the 30-minute point.

Rosberg returned to first place with a 1:08.166 before Hamilton triggered a Virtual Safety Car when he lost control of his Mercedes at Turn 3, spinning into the gravel.

Hamilton managed to recover, but the stationary car made Romain Grosjean spin in avoidance. Neither car was damaged and the VSC was removed quickly.

Verstappen then became the first victim of the revised kerbs, the Dutchman losing a part of his front wing after going wide at the final corner.

Teammate Ricciardo also endured some drama after nearly making contact with the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson at Turn 8, the Australian having to go off track after the Swede ran wide when trying to enter the pitlane.

The incident was put under investigation.

Rosberg went even quicker in the second half of the session, posting a 1:07.373 with ultrasofts before going off at Turn 3, the German running through the gravel and having to return to the pits for checks.

A second VSC period was caused by Verstappen after the Dutchman ran over the new kerbs at Turn 4, damaging his steering in the process, ending up in the gravel.

Moments later there was further drama at Turn 8, as Rio Haryanto spun his Manor and then Vettel went wide, the German annoyed after being slowed down by teammate Raikkonen.

"Why don't you tell him that I'm coming on a quick lap," Vettel complained on the radio.

Vettel was briefly second behind Rosberg before Hamilton raised his pace with a run on ultrasofts, the Briton ending up over three tenths off his teammate's best.

With three minutes to go, Ricciardo went off the track again, this time at Turn 6, having to run through the gravel to return to the circuit.

A few seconds later, Daniil Kvyat spun his Toro Rosso at Turn 2.

Free practice 1 results

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	Mercedes	36	1'07.373
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Mercedes	33	1'07.730	0.357	0.357
3	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Ferrari	27	1'08.022	0.649	0.292
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Ferrari	30	1'08.222	0.849	0.200
5	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	TAG	34	1'08.528	1.155	0.306
6	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	33	1'08.803	1.430	0.275
7	Felipe Massa	Williams	Mercedes	38	1'08.824	1.451	0.021
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	TAG	21	1'08.962	1.589	0.138
9	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	Ferrari	31	1'08.990	1.617	0.028
10	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	Mercedes	39	1'08.998	1.625	0.008
11	Romain Grosjean	Haas	Ferrari	33	1'09.078	1.705	0.080
12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	Mercedes	42	1'09.280	1.907	0.202
13	Jenson Button	McLaren	Honda	30	1'09.365	1.992	0.085
14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	Honda	29	1'09.567	2.194	0.202
15	Kevin Magnussen	Renault	Renault	23	1'09.707	2.334	0.140
16	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor	Mercedes	33	1'09.775	2.402	0.068
17	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	Renault	27	1'09.851	2.478	0.076
18	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	Ferrari	34	1'09.929	2.556	0.078
19	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas	Ferrari	19	1'10.110	2.737	0.181
20	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	Ferrari	25	1'10.314	2.941	0.204
21	Rio Haryanto	Manor	Mercedes	20	1'10.493	3.120	0.179
22	Alfonso Celis Jr.	Force India	Mercedes	36	1'10.860	3.487	0.367