Antonelli tops both Austrian GP practice sessions for Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli set the pace in both Friday practice sessions for the Austrian Grand Prix, giving Mercedes the early edge at the Red Bull Ring. He led FP1 by 0.040 seconds from teammate George Russell, and he stayed on top in FP2 as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris pushed him late. Mercedes opened the weekend with a one-two in first practice, while Antonelli’s FP2 benchmark left McLaren and Red Bull chasing the reference time.

The opening session was heavily affected by reliability problems. Lando Norris lost most of FP1 after a hydraulics leak, Max Verstappen was hit by an anti-stall problem and later software issues, and Red Bull also had a disrupted day with running delays for Isack Hadjar. The session ended under a red flag after Sergio Perez stopped on track, while Lewis Hamilton placed fifth for Ferrari and Dino Beganovic was ninth in Charles Leclerc’s car. Ferrari also used the weekend to assess its new engine and earlier aerodynamic changes.

Antonelli carried that form into FP2 with a best lap of 1:07.209, finishing 0.237 seconds clear of Piastri and 0.325 ahead of Norris. Verstappen was fourth and Hamilton fifth, with Russell sixth after a difficult lap. The session ran in 48C track temperatures and was interrupted by a virtual safety car after Perez stopped at Turn 6, while Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac smoked and returned to the pits with suspected suspension damage. McLaren also abandoned a rear-wing test during practice and said it would continue the development at a later race.