Spielberg, Jul 10 (IANS): 2019 Austrian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen led the way in second free practice session at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg as Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo sufferred a concerning crash at turn nine.

This is the first time in the history of the sport that two back-to-back races are being held at the same circuit. While the first race at the venue was called Austrian Grand Prix, the second one is named after the region, thus called the Styrian GP.

Verstappen led the charts as far as second practice session is concerned as he completed a lap with a timing of 1:03.660.

Winner of the season-opening Austrian GP, Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas finished second, 0.043 seconds slower while Racing Point's Sergio Perez completed the top three, being 0.217 seconds slower than the leader.

Carlos Sainz finished fifth for McLaren while reigning F1 champion Lewis Hamilton ended the session at a paltry sixth spot.

Ricciardo, who failed to finish the race last week, didn't have luck on his corner at this practice session either as he lost control over the rear end of his car and crashed into the wall near turn nine.

He was able to come out of the car easily but was seen limping and looked sore. Ricciardo was later cleared by the doctors after a visit to the medical centre as per formulaone.com.