Practice report
Formula 1 Austrian GP
F1 Austrian GP: Kimi Antonelli tops FP2 to complete perfect Friday
The Mercedes championship leader topped both Friday practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring
Edited: Jun 26, 2026, 4:39 PM
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Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli completed a perfect Friday at the Austrian Grand Prix by going fastest in second practice.
The Mercedes driver beat McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris with a 1m07.014s after also topping FP1 on an extremely hot day at the Red Bull Ring.
Such heat caused a unique challenge as, although the start of FP2 saw drivers frantically hit the 49C track on either medium or hard rubber, the opening stage was defined by reliability woes.
Alex Albon reported “no power” inside his Williams, Arvid Lindblad had trouble with his VCARB 03, whereas Sergio Perez stopped at Turn 6 due to his Cadillac overheating.
That caused a brief virtual safety car and it was only soon after that Antonelli became the first driver to beat his own FP1 benchmark (1m07.796s) with a 1m07.657s on medium tyres.
But his time would only be the pacesetter temporarily, with qualifying sim runs on the soft tyre kicking in after 30 minutes and Piastri soon toppled Antonelli.
Nico Hulkenberg, Audi F1 Team, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
The McLaren driver set a 1m07.251s, which team-mate Norris and Lewis Hamilton soon respectively got within 0.088s and 0.360s of, before a 1m07.209s put Antonelli top again.
This was where the championship leader started to hit his stride because it was with 20 minutes remaining that he improved again to a 1m07.014s, 0.195s quicker than his previous best lap.
That would subsequently go unbeaten with teams returning to the harder compounds for the final stages, leaving McLaren to complete the top three and bounce back from its reliability woes in FP1.
Best of the rest was fourth-placed Max Verstappen, who was 0.550s off the pace after setting a 1m07.564s late in the soft tyre window ahead of Hamilton (1m07.611s) in fifth.
It was an underwhelming session for Antonelli’s team-mate George Russell, who only mustered sixth on a 1m07.637s with each lap looking a challenge for the Mercedes title hopeful.
That time put the Briton 0.121s faster than seventh-placed Isack Hadjar who, like Red Bull team-mate Verstappen, consistently struggled with a drop of engine RPM at Turn 3.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (+0.841s), Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson (+1.221s) and Audi sophomore Gabriel Bortoleto (+1.286s) respectively completed the top 10.
F1 Austrian GP: FP2 results
All Stats
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval Tyres km/h 1
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
Mercedes Mercedes 32
1'07.014
S 232.393 2 O. Piastri McLaren 81
McLaren Mercedes 32
+0.237
1'07.251
0.237 S 231.574 3 L. Norris McLaren 1
McLaren Mercedes 32
+0.325
1'07.339
0.088 S 231.271 4 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3
Red Bull Red Bull 29
+0.550
1'07.564
0.225 S 230.501 5 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
Ferrari Ferrari 33
+0.597
1'07.611
0.047 S 230.341 6 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 25
+0.623
1'07.637
0.026 S 230.252 7 I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6
Red Bull Red Bull 28
+0.744
1'07.758
0.121 S 229.841 8 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
Ferrari Ferrari 35
+0.841
1'07.855
0.097 S 229.512 9 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30
RB Red Bull 34
+1.221
1'08.235
0.380 S 228.234 10 G. Bortoleto Audi 5
Audi Audi 30
+1.286
1'08.300
0.065 S 228.017 11 P. Gasly Alpine 10
Alpine Mercedes 33
+1.362
1'08.376
0.076 S 227.764 12 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41
RB Red Bull 29
+1.364
1'08.378
0.002 S 227.757 13 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
Haas Ferrari 33
+1.518
1'08.532
0.154 S 227.245 14 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27
Audi Audi 32
+1.545
1'08.559
0.027 S 227.156 15 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31
Haas Ferrari 33
+1.816
1'08.830
0.271 S 226.261 16 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
Alpine Mercedes 30
+1.817
1'08.831
0.001 S 226.258 17 A. Albon Williams 23
Williams Mercedes 34
+1.824
1'08.838
0.007 S 226.235 18 C. Sainz Williams 55
Williams Mercedes 30
+2.117
1'09.131
0.293 S 225.276 19 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
Aston Martin Honda 27
+3.530
1'10.544
1.413 S 220.764 20 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
Aston Martin Honda 32
+3.684
1'10.698
0.154 S 220.283 21 V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team 77
Cadillac Ferrari 6
+4.293
1'11.307
0.609 M 218.402 22 S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team 11
Cadillac Ferrari 2
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
Read Also:
Formula 1Lance Stroll explains "for the mechanics and Lawrence" radio message
Formula 1The staggering statistic behind Isack Hadjar's and Red Bull's poor 2026 F1 starts
Formula 1Red Bull details Austrian GP updates; Audi, Cadillac bring improvements
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