The Silver Arrows were back on top during free practice ahead of this year’s Austrian Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli topped the first two sessions (quickly recovering from a lockup in FP1), while his teammate George Russell set the pace in FP3. Having benefitted from his teammate’s misfortune last time out in Barcelona, Russell will be looking for a repeat of his 2024 triumph if he’s to successfully reignite his championship challenge.
Fresh off an emotional maiden win for Ferrari in Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton has carried momentum into the Styrian mountains. The seven-time world champion may have suffered a couple of wayward moments in FP1 and FP3, but managed to set the third fastest time by the end of the final session. His teammate Charles Leclerc ran wide at turn nine in FP2 en route to P7 in the final session.
Ferrari has brought four major upgrades to Austria and has focused on power unit development. Should the revisions pay dividends, the prancing horse could establish itself as a credible threat to Mercedes.
McLaren continues its search for that performance breakthrough as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris ended the final session in fourth and fifth, respectively. The latter missed the majority of FP1 due to mechanical issues and took to the track with 14 minutes remaining. He spun at turn three in FP2 and later reported brake issues in FP3.
Max Verstappen had a free practice to forget. Radio interference, seat issues, and engine problems at turn three were just some of the problems reported. Verstappen ended FP3 in sixth, substantiating the claim that Red Bull is once again the weakest link in F1’s leading quartet. His teammate, Isack Hadjar, reported near identical engine issues at the exact same corner and finished FP3 in eighth.
Meanwhile, Racing Bulls continued their steady progress. After handing his car over to Ayumu Iwasa in FP1, Liam Lawson took to the track in FP2 and ended the final session in eighth, one place ahead of his teammate Arvid Lindblad.
Pierre Gasly comes to Austria as the only driver, apart from Lewis Hamilton, to have scored points at every weekend so far this season. The Alpine driver ran consistently and ended FP3 in 11th. He was followed by Nico Hulkenberg, who made way for Paul Aron in FP1, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Ollie Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
Cadillac have brought ten upgrades to Austria, the most of any team. Even so, the American outfit suffered its fair share of technical issues. Sergio Perez locked up at turn one in FP3, while his teammate Valtteri Bottas hit the gravel at turn nine. Both drivers experienced engine issues in FP2 and ended up 19th and 20th in FP3 ahead of the two Aston Martin drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
After their disappointing display in Spain, Mercedes appears to have reclaimed the edge in Austria. However, with Ferrari in close attendance, the eight-time constructors’ champions will likely have their work cut out in both qualifying and the race.
