Austrian Grand Prix 2026: Kimi Antonelli leads Mercedes team-mate George Russell in first practice
Kimi Antonelli led George Russell with a Mercedes one-two in first practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Italian driver led Russell by just 0.04 seconds, while Oscar Piastri’s McLaren was just 0.117 seconds behind in third. Teammate Lando Norris was seventh fastest after missing three-quarters of the session with a hydraulic problem.
Max Verstappen, who made a major aerodynamic improvement at Red Bull, finished fourth, 0.281 seconds behind Antonelli.
Lewis Hamilton, who won the last race in Spain and whose Ferrari had an engine upgrade, was 0.665 seconds off the pace. The seven-time champion did not seem very happy with his car in the short radio broadcast.
Briton Arvid Lindblad was sixth in the Racing Bulls, while Norris Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was eighth ahead of Swede Dino Beganovic in Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
Briton Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 for Haas.
The weekend is a potentially important week for Ferrari to prove whether they can continue to challenge Mercedes.
The team was careful to say that the engine upgrade introduced in Austria was not enough to close the gap in power with Mercedes.
But the question is whether, with the aerodynamic development introduced in Spain, it is enough to allow them to compete with Mercedes on a power-sensitive circuit like this, where they have not yet been competitive this season.
