Nico Rosberg used Pirelli’s ultrasoft tyre to set the fastest lap ever recorded around the Red Bull Ring, which has been resurfaced for this year and has already produced a notable upturn in speed compared to 2015.

The Mercedes driver clocked a best lap of 1m07.373s during FP1 before joining his fellow drivers in sitting out more than 30 minutes of FP2 as torrential rain coated the 4.326-kilometre circuit.

When the track began to dry out, the drivers had to run on intermediate tyre. It wasn’t until the final 20 minutes that teams were able to use dry-weather tyres once again with the popular choice ranging between the supersoft and ultrasoft.

Having used the ultrasoft in FP1, Mercedes driver Rosberg’s best lap in FP2 was recorded on the supersoft.

Rosberg’s FP1 performance confirmed the Red Bull Ring will be the shortest lap of the year in terms of time and will make an optimal qualifying lap on Saturday even more crucial as a small gap or mistake could have a significant impact. Sofar, due to the heavy wash during FP2, there’s no real data available related to the time gap between the different compounds.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “The new smooth surface and the ultrasoft tyre combined to produce the fastest lap ever recorded at the Red Bull Ring this morning, which could mean that a sub-1m05 lap is possible in qualifying if it stays dry. With the heavy rain keeping the cars off the track for a large chunk of FP2, this didn’t provide a proper opportunity to gather representative running data on this track.”

Minimum prescribed tyre pressures: 22 psi (fronts) 19.5 psi (rears)

Pirelli fact of the day: Prior to the return of the Red Bull Ring in 2014, there was no
Austrian Grand Prix since 2003. McLaren is the only team with both drivers who took
part in the previous incarnation of the race at the A1 Ring (as it was then known). On
that occasion 13 years ago, Jenson Button finished fourth (with BAR) while Fernando
Alonso retired on lap 44 (in a Renault) having started from the pit lane.

Spotted in the paddock: Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi, undertaking third driver
duties with Manor. Also spotted: special-edition ‘lederhosen’ race suits for Red Bull
drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, who celebrates his 27th birthday today. The Australian Grand Prix has named a grandstand after him to mark the occasion: this will be known as the circuit’s ‘Danstand’.

FP1 - TIMES
Rosberg 	1m07.373s Ultrasoft New
Hamilton 	1m07.730s Ultrasoft Used
Vettel 		1m08.022s Ultrasoft New

FP2 - TIMES
Rosberg 	1m07.967s Supersoft New
Hamilton 	1m07.986s Ultrasoft New
Hulkenberg 	1m08.580s Ultrasoft New

FP1 – BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
Supersoft 	Rosberg 1m08.166s
Ultrasoft 	Rosberg 1m07.373s
Soft 		Hulkenberg 1m09.280s

FP2 – BEST TIME PER COMPOUND
Supersoft 	Rosberg 1m07.967s
Intermediate 	Perez 1m15.902s
Soft 		Hamilton 1m09.145s
Ultrasoft 	Hamilton 1m07.986s

MOST LAPS BY COMPOUND
Ultrasoft 	Ricciardo 17 laps
Supersoft 	Kvyat 13
Intermediate 	Alonso 10
Intermediate 	Kvyat 10
Intermediate 	Sainz J 10
Soft Button 	7

Tyre statistics of the day:
			Intermediate Soft Supersoft Ultrasoft
kms driven * 		700 	     865  1820      1898
sets used overall ** 	22 	     22   35        36 
highest number of laps  15 	     27   23        23

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres
driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.
** Per compound, all drivers combined.