Vettel fastest in second practice
Hamilton struggling in cool, windy conditions, Button out
Many cars lost control under braking
Get involved & vote: when was F1's best era? #bbcf1
Ferrari boss nearly run over by Massa in FP1
Lewis Hamilton has closed to within three tenths of Nico Rosberg's quickest time, but he's pushing hard to even manage that.
He just locked up into turn one, the Mercedes sailing on into the lovely mountainous scenery.
Of course, this being F1 in 2015, it's a big area of Tarmac and he escapes further punishment.
Image source, F1
Image source, F1
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer
"The last race in Canada was quite possibly the first time in his Formula 1 career in which Daniel Ricciardo's famous smile looked like slipping. A frustrating weekend led to him saying the team's upgrades were making no difference and that he was lost in terms of knowing why he could not get the car working for him. With the distance of a fortnight, Ricciardo had developed some perspective, saying that the fact he had won in Canada in 2014 had played its part in his mood.
Image source, Getty Images"'I probably went in there quite in a way emotional from what happened there a year earlier and probably just hoping for too much,' Ricciardo said. 'So that already probably set the target too high from the start and it sort of spiralled into a poor weekend, for obviously some other reasons as well.
"'We come here now with let's say a fresh approach on it all. I have a new chassis. I think we've got any variables that were maybe there in Canada and ready to have a good weekend. We know the track doesn't really suit everything for our performance right now but hopefully we'll have a good weekend here in front of the home fans.'
"Ricciardo was even sanguine about the likelihood of a grid penalty for taking a fifth engine, which Red Bull duly confirmed later that day. Perhaps that was an influencing factor in Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz making his latest threat to quit the sport."
Image source, Getty ImagesJon Bennett: The '90s for me. Height of tech, great racing, highs and lows. Sums up F1's history in one decade.
Elton Lam: The 1980s. Turbo era. Massive slick tyres. Big grids. Sparks. Senna, Prost, Mansell, Piquet, etc.
Charlie Brown: Enough said...
Image source, Getty ImagesManor F1 Team:, external "Roberto takes a breather at the 10 lap mark. #FP1"
Image source, ManorRed Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz claims his team's uncompetitive form of the past two seasons is draining his "will and motivation" to remain in F1, writes Andrew Benson.
The Austrian has repeatedly threatened to quit the sport if Red Bull cannot get hold of a competitive engine.
"What else has to happen that we will lose our motivation completely?" he told Red Bull's Speed Week magazine.
Red Bull have collected just 54 points from the first seven races after dominating the sport from 2010 to 2013.
Image source, Getty Images
Jennie Gow
BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter
Vettel's car wheeled back...
Image source, Jennie GowRomain Grosjean on Twitter:, external Watching FP1 from the pitwall this morning. Looking forward to drive the car this afternoon.
Image source, Romain Grosjean1 Rosberg, 2 Hamilton, 3 Raikkonen, 4 Kvyat, 5 Maldonado, 6 Massa, 7 Perez, 8 Bottas, 9 Verstappen, 10 Ricciardo
Formula 1 on Twitter:, external No harm done... Massa and Arrivabene share a joke after their near miss in the pit lane.
Image source, F1
Image source, F1A bit of a scare in the pit lane for Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene a few moments ago.
The uber-cool Italian hopped down off the pit wall to cross into the garage but did so right in front of the of Felipe Massa, who was pulling away in his Williams.
Fortunately for Arrivabene, Massa was quick on the brakes - as was Arrivabene to be fair.
A glance of a split-second's duration passed between the two men, the look on Arrivabene's face appearing to say: "Yeah, that was pretty dumb. Sorry mate."
Image source, F1Jake Nichol: 1980s-1990s. 4 of the all time greats, immense power, great racing and Murray commentating on it all.
PtheP: Mid 60s to early 70s. Clark, Gurney, Hill, Stewart, Rodriguez, Brabham, McClaren, Rindt, Peterson. Gethin at Monza in '71.
Matthew Taylor: 1990s. Mixture of V8/V10/V12s, good/bad teams/drivers, controversy, Murray & James, 'The Chain'... loved that era.
Image source, Getty ImagesAndrew Benson
Chief F1 writer
"Williams had to rely on a spin by Kimi Raikkonen for Valtteri Bottas to get on to the podium at the last race in Canada, and have generally lagged behind Ferrari all year. But the team have some updates in Austria that they hope might enable them to challenge.
"Bottas said another podium 'should be our target - if all the updates work as expected should be really close with Ferrari'. What are the updates? 'Aero bits only,' the Finn said. 'The main bits are the floor and rear wing. The numbers look good but always need to prove it works as expected.'"
Image source, Getty ImagesQuick time check for you with just over 25 minutes of the session gone.
The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg is out in front with a best lap of 1:10.401. That's a very useful 1.092secs ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Very early stages of course.
Sebastian Vettel: "Lost drive, I lost drive in fourth gear."
The Ferrari man is parked up down an escape road. Steering wheel is off and the four-time champion climbs out of his car and very probably out of the session.
Image source, F1
Image source, Getty ImagesAs usual we want to pick your brains during practice and today's debate is a nice easy one: what has been the best era of F1?
From race one in 1950 right through to the present day, F1 has witness myriad changes that have shaped and defined the sport decade-by-decade, from the mid-engine revolution of the early 1960s through huge advances in aerodynamics, engines and technology.
But what era, for you, best defines this wonderful sport?
Get in touch using #bestf1era
Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer
Image source, Reuters"Force India's Nico Hulkenberg had the unusual experience of being the centre of attention on Thursday, after his debut victory at Le Mans last weekend. The German was clearly still riding the wave of euphoria that came with victory at one of motorsport's biggest races. 'Incredible to go there and win at the first attempt,' he said. 'So proud. The feelings I've had the last few days have been crazy.' His fellow F1 drivers were happy to express their admiration - 'massive respect', Sebastian Vettel said - and Hulkenberg even took the winners' trophy from Le Mans into the official news conference, where Fernando Alonso would have been forgiven for eyeing it somewhat jealously.
Image source, AFP"Alonso has made no secret of his wish to race at Le Mans one day, and he came very close to securing a deal to partner Hulkenberg in that very car, only for Honda to reject it. 'I was 99.9% deal done this year with him in the the car,' Alonso said. 'Hopefully I can do it in the near future and, if not, when I finish F1 definitely it is one race I would like to do. Winning in Monte Carlo in F1, 24 Hours Le Mans and Indy 500 are the most prestigious three races and hopefully one day I can race there.'
"Alonso said he had had no frustration from knowing it could have been him on the podium, too. 'When I knew in December it was not possible I stop thinking about it,' Alonso said. 'I'm super-happy for him. He deserved it because he has a great talent and in F1 he did not have the luck to be in the right place.'"
Manor on Twitter:, external Installation lap, tyres off and tightly wrapped. Here's our tyre man Bruce in action...
Image source, Manor F1Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer
Image source, f1"Oh dear. That's not the start McLaren and Fernando Alonso wanted. His car fitted with the old nose, to get some baseline data before trying the revised short nose, the Spaniard has an engine problem and coasts down the pit lane with the car switched off.
"Alonso has talked about this being a 'testing weekend'. Testing, of course, has two meanings. And this is not the one Alonso was referring to."
...for every time I'd written about a McLaren conking out in the opening minutes of a practice session this season.
I'd have £4.
We've just seen the McLaren of Fernando Alonso rolling down the pit lane, no sound from the engine, with a gaggle of mechanics running along behind.
More engine bother? We'll find out soon enough.
Image source, Getty Images