Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg went quickest in the opening practice session at the Red Bull Ring as Formula One returned to Austria for the first time since 2003. The championship leader finished just over a tenth ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, with Fernando Alonso third for Ferrari.

One the short, fast 4.3km circuit just a second covered the top 10 but it was it was still the Mercedes pairing that set the pace with Rosberg and Hamilton on top for the bulk of the session. Indeed, Mercedes-powered machinery dominated, with Felipe Massa fourth for Williams, four tenths of a second down on Rosberg’s time, and Jenson Button fifth for McLaren. Sergio Perez was sixth for Force India, ahead of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and the second McLaren of Kevin Magnussen in ninth.

Tenth place went to Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne, apart from Alonso the only non-Mercedes-powered member of the top 10.

Conditions for the opening practice session were mixed, with cool temperatures and a light sprinkling of rain contributing to a complicated acclimatisation process for the drivers.

The conditions and a surface low on grip led to several spins, the most notable being for Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel who was lucky to avoid major trouble when he spun on the exit of the final corner. The defending champion bounced through the grass, completed two complete spins but managed to regain control and steer his RB10 back to the pits.

Red Bull Racing had an anonymous first showing at the team’s home track, with Daniel Ricciardo 13^th and Vettel 15^th.

Elsewhere, 11^th-fastest Kimi Raikkonen trialled another of the sport’s attempts to improve the spectacle by running a titanium plate on the bottom of his car in order to create sparks at the back of the car. Rosberg also ran with a similar plate during the session.

2014 Austrian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Times
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:11.295 19
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.435 0.140 32
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:11.606 0.311 23
4 Felipe Massa Williams 1:11.756 0.461 27
5 Jenson Button McLaren 1:11.839 0.544 33
6 Sergio Perez Force India 1:12.009 0.714 33
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:12.072 0.777 20
8 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:12.114 0.819 21
9 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:12.313 1.018 36
10 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:12.364 1.069 30
11 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:12.365 1.070 21
12 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:12.372 1.077 35
13 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:12.570 1.275 28
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:12.984 1.689 29
15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:12.988 1.693 25
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:13.168 1.873 28
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:13.642 2.347 27
18 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:13.738 2.443 26
19 Max Chilton Marussia 1:13.857 2.562 28
20 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:14.611 3.316 24
21 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:14.691 3.396 9
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:17.501 6.206 8