Formula 1 Austrian GP
F1 Austrian GP: Kimi Antonelli leads Mercedes 1-2 as Lando Norris faces reliability woes in FP1
Mercedes came out swinging in first free practice at the Austrian GP as Antonelli pipped George Russell, while Norris hit more reliability trouble in the McLaren
Filip Cleeren
Edited: Jun 26, 2026, 3:26 PM
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Mercedes' championship leader Kimi Antonelli topped first practice at Formula 1's Austrian Grand Prix, having a slight edge on team-mate George Russell at a toasty Red Bull Ring.
Russell led the opening running in Spielberg on mediums with a 1m10.407s and then 1m09.898s, ahead of team-mate Antonelli. The Italian teenager took over command with a 1m08.448s lap, but a better comparison came at the halfway point when both Mercedes men donned Pirelli's softs. Antonelli set a 1m07.796s lap, 0.119s ahead of his team-mate, which would remain untouched until the end of the sweltering hot session in Styria.
Russell's best effort got him to within 0.040s of Antonelli, as the Mercedes pair had a gap of almost one second to Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad at that stage, which was the result of other teams dialling in their upgrades or hitting reliability issues.
A hydraulic leak kept reigning world champion Lando Norris out of his McLaren MCL40 until the final 15 minutes of the session, the latest reliability gremlin to hit the Briton. Oscar Piastri did make it out earlier, initially struggling with his brakes before setting a 1m.07914s lap to go third, just 0.117s behind Antonelli's chart topping effort.
Max Verstappen's session was delayed by suspected clutch issues. Verstappen joined the action after 20-odd minutes on soft tyres, but said he was struggling with a lack of grip and feel in the heavily revised Red Bull RB22, which features a new floor, sidepod and various other upgrades. Eventually, the four-time world champion improved to go fourth, 0.281s behind Antonelli.
Lewis Hamilton ended the session fifth for Ferrari
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Barcelona winner Lewis Hamilton gradually chipped away at his personal bests to take fifth in the Ferrari, which featured an upgraded V6 engine, shipping six tenths to the Mercedes cars. That ended up bumping Lindblad to sixth, ahead of Norris who took seventh on the medium tyre without trying the faster softs in anger, and Franco Colapinto in the Alpine.
On a non-sprint weekend held on a traditional road course, the Austrian Grand Prix was an ideal opportunity for teams to use up one of their four mandatory rookie FP1 sessions. Aboard Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, Dino Beganovic was the fastest rookie runner in ninth, with Haas regular Oliver Bearman rounding out the top 10.
Ayumu Iwasa was 15th in Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls machine. Paul Aron also took part, the Estonian deputising for Gabriel Bortoleto in the Audi and claiming 17th. Luke Browning deputised for Carlos Sainz at Williams and was 18th-fastest, with Ryo Hirakawa 19th in Esteban Ocon's Haas and Jak Crawford 20th as he replaced Aston Martin's Lance Stroll.
The second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar was only 12th after suffering engine issues early on and once he did make it out, the Frenchman struggled with severe balance issues that left him off the pace.
The session almost took place without noteworthy incidents, until Sergio Perez ground to a halt at Turn 3 in the Cadillac. With just a minute to go, Perez's stoppage effectively ended the first of three practice sessions.
F1 Austrian GP: FP1 results
All Stats
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval Tyres km/h 1
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
Mercedes Mercedes 29
1'07.796
S 229.712 2 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 30
+0.040
1'07.836
0.040 S 229.577 3 O. Piastri McLaren 81
McLaren Mercedes 26
+0.117
1'07.913
0.077 S 229.316 4 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3
Red Bull Red Bull 17
+0.281
1'08.077
0.164 S 228.764 5 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
Ferrari Ferrari 25
+0.665
1'08.461
0.384 S 227.481 6 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41
RB Red Bull 18
+0.930
1'08.726
0.265 S 226.604 7 L. Norris McLaren 1
McLaren Mercedes 9
+1.077
1'08.873
0.147 M 226.120 8 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
Alpine Mercedes 27
+1.166
1'08.962
0.089 S 225.828 9
D. Beganovic Ferrari
38 
Ferrari Ferrari 26
+1.258
1'09.054
0.092 S 225.527 10 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
Haas Ferrari 26
+1.275
1'09.071
0.017 S 225.472 11 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27
Audi Audi 30
+1.369
1'09.165
0.094 S 225.165 12 I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6
Red Bull Red Bull 11
+1.685
1'09.481
0.316 S 224.141 13 V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team 77
Cadillac Ferrari 21
+1.725
1'09.521
0.040 S 224.012 14 P. Gasly Alpine 10
Alpine Mercedes 28
+1.750
1'09.546
0.025 S 223.932 15 A. Iwasa Racing Bulls 90
RB Red Bull 19
+1.841
1'09.637
0.091 S 223.639 16 A. Albon Williams 23
Williams Mercedes 31
+1.848
1'09.644
0.007 S 223.617 17
P. Aron Audi
97 
Audi Audi 20
+1.850
1'09.646
0.002 S 223.610 18
L. Browning Williams
46 
Williams Mercedes 29
+2.183
1'09.979
0.333 S 222.546 19 R. Hirakawa Haas F1 Team 50
Haas Ferrari 23
+2.697
1'10.493
0.514 S 220.924 20 J. Crawford Aston Martin Racing 34
Aston Martin Honda 22
+3.406
1'11.202
0.709 S 218.724 21 S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team 11
Cadillac Ferrari 14
+3.487
1'11.283
0.081 H 218.475 22 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
Aston Martin Honda 21
+3.537
1'11.333
0.050 S 218.322 View full results
Photos from Austrian GP - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Austrian Grand Prix - Friday
Formula 1
42
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