Antonelli leads Mercedes one-two in opening Austrian Grand Prix practice

Kimi Antonelli put Mercedes on top of first practice at the Austrian Grand Prix, lapping the Red Bull Ring in 1m 07.796s and beating George Russell by 0.040 seconds. Oscar Piastri was third, 0.117 seconds off the pace, with Max Verstappen fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth, giving Antonelli an eye-catching start on a weekend that could test whether Mercedes’ teenage prospect is beginning to press his case inside the team.

The session began at 13:30 local time on Friday, June 26, at the 4.326-kilometre Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, a compact circuit with just 10 corners, the fewest on the Formula 1 calendar. FP2 followed later on Friday, qualifying was set for Saturday, June 27, and the 71-lap race, covering 307.018 kilometres, comes on Sunday, June 28. Six rookies took part in FP1, adding another layer of noise to a session already defined by extreme track conditions, with asphalt temperatures reaching about 50C.

Mercedes had reason to pay attention beyond the headline lap time. Russell and Antonelli traded fastest laps during the session, and Russell briefly told the radio that his throttle pedal felt unusual. Even so, Antonelli’s time was not just a flash on the timing screens: it placed him ahead of Piastri and the two drivers most likely to shape the rest of the weekend if their sessions stay clean. On a short, low-corner circuit where a single clean lap can swing the order, Mercedes’ one-two suggested more than a tidy Friday, even if the true benchmark will be whether both drivers can repeat it when conditions change later in the day and in qualifying trim.

Red Bull and McLaren, meanwhile, had messy runs that limited the value of their opening pace. Verstappen’s session was disrupted when his Red Bull repeatedly dropped into anti-stall in the pit lane, while Lando Norris was held back by a hydraulic leak and did not get on track until the final 14 minutes. That leaves Friday’s top order open to interpretation, but it also adds context to Antonelli’s result: he beat his own established team-mate, and he did it while some of the weekend’s leading names were not getting uninterrupted mileage.

The Austrian venue has long rewarded sharp execution. Verstappen has four poles and four wins here, while Piastri set the circuit lap record of 1m 07.924s in 2025, and Norris won last year’s race from pole. Antonelli is still only at the start of that comparison set, but after one practice session he has already put Mercedes in a position to ask a more serious question than a simple Friday headline.