Austrian F1 Grand Prix 2016 Qualifying: Results, Times from Friday's Practice

Championship leader Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets ahead of Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in an entertaining opening practice session of the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix.There were issues galore during the early action at Spielberg's Red Bull Ring as grip and new kerbs caused problems for a number of drivers.The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel andKimi Raikkonen sat behind the Mercedes in third and fourth,respectively, while Red Bull'sMax Verstappen had problems throughout the session and finished eighth fastest.Rosberg finished four-10ths of a second up on Hamilton, and the Englishman will be eager to close that gap in the afternoon session.FP1 RecapHere are the full results from the opening practice session, via Formula One:Early expectations for the first session in Austria were that Vettel would test the new halo safety technology, but engineers were working on his car as the action got going, per racing driver and commentator Karun Chandhok:The German eventually made it out on trackminus the halobut not before he had been handed a five-place grid penalty for a gear-box change, per BBC Sport.Hamilton set the early pace before being pipped by Rosberg. The Englishman then locked up and spun, forcingRomain Grosjeantrailing shortly behind himto do the same as he tried to avoid the reigning world champion.Verstappen then had some grip problems and went wide at Turn 8, losing hisend plate, before his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was forced to take evasive action and go up onto the kerb as Sauber'sMarcus Ericsson was careless going into the pits.Grip was proving an issue for many of the drivers on Friday morning and Rosberg ended up in the gravel at Turn 3 after locking up.He got away with no issues, but Verstappen had problems when he was beached in the gravel moments later.The 18-year-old Dutchman went wide at Turn 5 and over the new yellow kerbs, which caused hisfront suspension to snap and force him into the gravel at Turn 6, ending his session.He was not happy, per Channel 4 F1:The kerbs were an obvious issue for drivers and caused Manor'sRio Haryanto to spin just moments after being told by his team "not to use the yellow kerbs," per BBC Sport.Formula One provided an instructive image:There continued to be grip issues until the end of the session, but Rosberg remained top of the standings and will hope to do the same when the drivers return to the track for the afternoon.
Click here to read full news..