Kimi Antonelli Tops Austrian GP Practice Ahead of Oscar Piastri
Quick Look
- Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli led Friday practice at the Austrian Grand Prix, outpacing McLaren's Oscar Piastri by 0.237 seconds.
- Lando Norris was third, ahead of Max Verstappen, while Ferrari showed less pace than expected despite an engine upgrade.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Practice sessions at the Austrian Grand Prix saw Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli set the fastest lap, ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri. Ferrari's performance was notably below expectations.
Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli headed McLaren's Oscar Piastri in Friday practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Antonelli, who leads Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton by 41 points in the world championship, was 0.237 seconds clear of the Australian.
The second McLaren of world champion Lando Norris was third fastest, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and the second Mercedes of George Russell.
McLaren also looked competitive on race pace, with Norris mixing it with the Mercedes for the best pace on the long runs late in the session.
Ferrari have an engine upgrade for this weekend but the Italian team have not yet shown the pace that led to Hamilton's landmark victory in Spain last time out.
Hamilton was 0.597secs off the pace, and team-mate Charles Leclerc a further 0.244secs adrift in eight place, behind the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.
Russell was lacking pace over one lap - 0.623secs off team-mate Antonelli - but was on pace on the race-simulation runs.
Verstappen and Hadjar spent the session complaining about turbo lag from their engines.
And a difficult day for Cadillac continued when Sergio Perez stopped early on with the same electronics problems he had in the first session, while team-mate Valtteri Bottas had to abandon the session halfway through with sparks flying from the underside of the car.
Open Questions
- Will Ferrari's engine upgrade yield better results in qualifying?
- Can Red Bull resolve their turbo lag issues?
- Will Cadillac overcome their technical problems?
