Hamilton fastest in Austrian GP second practice

Lewis Hamilton was fastest in second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix but Sebastian Vettel cut the gap from the morning's session.

In first practice on Friday morning at the Red Bull Ring, the Mercedes driver was 0-449secs quicker than championship leader Vettel - who could only finish in fourth spot - but the Ferrari man closed the gap to just over one-tenth of a second as he came home second quickest.

The second Mercedes of Valterri Bottas trailed a further 0.069secs behind Vettel in third place with Red Bull's Max Verstappen fourth fastest.

His team-mate Daniel Ricciardo improved from the morning to grab fifth position while the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen was a disappointing sixth.

Fernando Alonso showed signs of real improvement in the upgraded McLaren - featuring a more powerful Honda engine - to claim eighth just behind the Haas of the impressive Kevin Magnussen.

Hamilton's afternoon was not without worry as his car showed troubling signs and he had to end his session early to change a spark plug.

Mercedes also had a scare when Bottas spun on Turn Six while on the low-grip surface, both Ferrari drivers, Alonso and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson all spun.

Daniel Kyvat meanwhile - who was 10th fastest - was called back into the pits with 10 minutes of the session remaining due to overheating brakes, which then caught fire after he returned to the pits.

But it is Hamilton they all have to catch and it again looks like it will be Vettel vying with the British driver for supremacy this weekend.

Image: Getty/Andrej Isakovic

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