Mercedes set the pace in first practice for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday while Ferrari principal Maurizio Arrivabene risked being run over in the pitlane by his team's former driver Felipe Massa.
While Formula One champions Mercedes led the times as expected, with Nico Rosberg fastest ahead of championship leader Lewis Hamilton, Arrivabene's moment of inattention provided an early talking point.
The Italian stepped off the pit wall as Massa’s Williams was pulling out of the garage, jumping back as the Brazilian braked and then giving him the thumbs up. Both were able to laugh about it afterwards.
The Ferrari boss had something to smile and frown about on the track, with Kimi Raikkonen posting the third best time while four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel parked up after losing drive in fourth gear.
The German, who completed only four laps, ended up bottom of the timesheets with a lap of one minute 15.684 seconds compared to Rosberg’s best of 1:10.401.
Hamilton, who sounded tetchy on the team radio, was 0.308 slower than his team mate.
“How many changes do you guys want me to do, can I just focus on driving?,” the champion said over the team radio in response to one request.
Several drivers, including Hamilton, ran off at the penultimate corner on an overcast day after a damp start to the morning.
McLaren's Fernando Alonso, with a big upgrade on his car but an even bigger grid penalty coming his way after changes to the engine, was only 17th fastest after a troubled start that saw his car break down before he had done a lap.
The Spaniard was then confined to the garage until the final 15 minutes.
Valtteri Bottas was fourth fastest for Mercedes-powered Williams at the track where the Finn took his first podium finish last year.
Meanwhile Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has hit out at Renault for destroying his team’s “enjoyment and motivation” and is ready to walk away from Formula One.
Relations between engine supplier and team have been fraught since rule changes introduced new power units into the sport from 2014.
Before then, the pairing had provided Sebastian Vettel with the machinery to win four world championships in succession.
But Renault missed a beat with the new regulations and have been playing catch-up ever since, with team boss Christian Horner also vocal in his condemnation of the lack of competitiveness in the Renault power unit.
The French manufacturer has threatened to withdraw from the sport and Mateschitz, ahead of Sunday’s race at Red Bull Ring in the team’s home country of Austria, has once again put pressure on Renault — although he did play down any chance of switching to Ferrari power for 2016 saying there was “no alternative to Renault” for next season.
“Beside taking our time and money they have destroyed our enjoyment and motivation,” he told Speedweek.
“No driver and no chassis in this world can compensate for this horsepower deficit. How many more things have to happen before we lose all enjoyment?
“In addition, our chances were so scuppered by aerodynamic regulations which meant that chief designer Adrian Newey could not weave his magic on front wings. Now we have used our fourth engine, which means we are penalised on the grid.”
Red Bull won three races in 2014 as Daniel Ricciardo managed to wrangle victories from the dominant Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Canada, Hungary and Belgium.
This year has been more of a struggle and Mateschitz conceded he could pull the plug on the team’s F1 project before their contract expires in 2020.
“There are contracts for Formula One participation,” he added.
“How many teams have dropped out of Formula One, despite already (having) contracts? You cannot hold someone if he wants to get out.”
