Nico Rosberg topped a wet/dry second practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix, beating teammate Lewis Hamilton by just 0.019s.
The two Mercedes drivers set their times either side of a rainstorm midway through the session, with Rosberg clocking his on super-soft tyres on a bone-dry circuit, while Hamilton used ultra-softs on a track that was still damp off the racing line after the rain. Hamilton's lap was also set on his second flying lap on a fresh set of tyres after he aborted his first attempt after coming across a slow-moving Esteban Gutierrez at Turn 5.
Rosberg attempted a quick lap on ultra-softs at the end of the session but after setting fastest first and second sectors dived into the pit, opting not to set a lap time. His best effort was still 0.6s shy of his best effort in the fully-dry morning session, suggesting none of the times offer a true representation of each driver's ultimate pace.
Nico Hulkenberg set the third fastest time with a late attempt on the ultra-soft tyres, finishing the session 0.613s off Rosberg. Sebastian Vettel was marginally slower and fourth fastest, but spun off on a late attempt on ultra-soft tyres. The rear of the Ferrari snapped out under braking, pitching car into a 360 degree spin before it beached itself in the gravel.
"I don't know what happened there," Vettel said over the team raido. "I lost completely the car when I hit the brakes."
Daniel Ricciardo set the fifth fastest time ahead of Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen, who took a trip through the gravel at Turn 5 early in the session, Valtteri Bottas and Jenson Button in tenth. Sainz was the only driver in the top ten not to set a time on the ultra-soft tyres, using super-softs to secure sixth place, 0.746s off Rosberg's best lap.
The heavy rain approached the circuit from the east, drenching Turns 8 and 9 first while the first sector remained bone dry. A number of drivers were caught out by the sudden downpour, with several spinning off at Turn 8 before recovering to the pit lane. At its peak, the rainstorm blew over parasols in the seating area of exclusive F1's Paddock Club, while mini waves of water blew down the pit straight.
The weather brought a halt to proceedings for a good 20 minutes before the Red Bull drivers headed out on track on the intermediate tyres. But the rain that fell on the first sector had mostly dried up and only the final sector was wet enough for the tyre choice. A combination of sunshine and track running meant the circuit was dry enough for slicks in the final 20 minutes as steam continued to rise from the track off the racing line.
Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finished just outside the top ten despite attempts on ultra-soft tyres at the end of the session. Like Toro Rosso teammate Sainz, Daniil Kvyat did not set a time on the ultra-softs but finished 13th overall ahead of Sergio Perez's Force India in 14th.