Sebastian Vettel showed that Ferrari will be a threat in Austrian Grand Prix – if there are no gearbox issues – when he finished fastest in the afternoon practice session at the Red Bull Ring. That was a considerable improvement on the German's morning run when he finished last on the timesheet, though he was able to complete only four laps because of gearbox problems. Vettel also spent much of the afternoon session parked up in the garage.

Nico Rosberg was second to Vettel and he was followed by the other Ferrari driven by Kimi Raikkonen, with Pastor Maldonado fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth. Hamilton, who had been second to his Mercedes team-mate, Rosberg, in the first session, had some problems after lunch. He went wide after losing control of his rear during the last double right-hander.

Hamilton said afterwards: “It’s been an okay start – not the best but not the worst either. I had a bit of oversteer here and there but generally the car feels great and we definitely made improvements from P1 to P2. There’s just not a lot of grip out there on track and I didn’t put a full lap together.

“I think this is a weekend where it flattens out a lot more. Williams and Ferrari in particular will be closer, so we need to be wary of them. Sebastian should be on it this weekend, so I think it could be close.”

The British driver said he is not motivated by winning poles, podiums or even races. “I just want to win championships. That’s what I’m excited about. Doesn’t matter the amount of wins, fastest laps, podiums, what matters is winning the world championship.” Guardian Service