Antonelli leads Mercedes one-two in Austrian Grand Prix practice

Kimi Antonelli set the pace in first practice for the Austrian Grand Prix with a 1m 07.796s lap at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, edging George Russell by 0.040 seconds. Oscar Piastri was third, 0.117 seconds off the benchmark.

The opening hour came in punishing heat, with track temperatures reaching 50C and a queue forming at the end of the pit lane before the 13:30 local start. Nearly the whole field went out early, including six rookie drivers, to collect data in conditions that made the balance between grip and tyre life especially hard to read. Mercedes swapped the top spot during the run plan before Antonelli finally pulled clear on the soft tyre.

The disruption did not stop with the front-runners. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull stopped twice in the pit lane with anti-stall and software issues, costing him running before he finished fourth, 0.281 seconds behind Antonelli. Lando Norris missed about three-quarters of FP1 after a hydraulics leak kept his McLaren in the garage until the final minutes, and Isack Hadjar also lost much of his session to a car problem. Lewis Hamilton took fifth in Ferrari’s upgraded car, 0.665 seconds off the pace.

Antonelli arrived at the weekend leading the Drivers’ standings by 41 points, and Russell was 50 points behind him. Ferrari’s test was just as important as Mercedes’ pace. The team brought an engine upgrade to Austria, along with aerodynamic development introduced earlier in Barcelona, and the run at a power-sensitive track offered a useful first measure of whether those changes could close the gap.