Austrian GP: Kimi Antonelli completes Friday practice double as Mercedes team-mate George Russell struggles
Kimi Antonelli tops both Friday practice sessions at Red Bull Ring; George Russell only sixth in other Mercedes; Oscar Piastri second ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris; watch final practice on Saturday at 11.30am with Qualifying from 3pm, live on Sky Sports F1
Friday 26 June 2026 17:58, UK
World championship leader Kimi Antonelli completed a Friday practice double at the Austrian Grand Prix with a dominant showing in the second session at the Red Bull Ring.
Having edged his Mercedes team-mate George Russell by just four hundredths of a second in the opening session, Antonelli separated himself from the field later in the day with a time of 1:07.014s.
That put the 19-year-old Italian 0.237s clear of Oscar Piastri in second place, with the Australian's McLaren team-mate Lando Norris almost a tenth further back in third. The margin was made all the more impressive by the fact Antonelli's time was delivered on his second flying lap on his soft tyres, at which point they were worn from his first run.
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Having appeared closely matched with Antonelli in Practice One, Russell was out of sorts and finished more than six tenths behind his team-mate in sixth.
Max Verstappen was half a second off the pace in his heavily upgraded Red Bull in fourth, edging out Lewis Hamilton, who was unable to back up the speed he showed when claiming his first victory for Ferrari last time out in Barcelona.
Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar edged out Ferrari's Charles Leclerc for seventh, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10.
Antonelli's retirement in Spain following a technical failure resulted in his championship lead over Hamilton being cut to 41 points, but the teenager's assured showing in Austria on Friday reasserted his status as the clear title favourite.
While McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull will all be confident of making progress overnight after having the chance to further optimise upgrades brought to their cars this weekend, perhaps most concerned of those chasing Antonelli will be Russell, who is third 50 points behind the championship leader in third in the standings.
Since winning the opening race of the season, the Brit has been largely outperformed by Antonelli, who overtook his team-mate in Barcelona for second place moments before suffering the power unit failure that ended his race.
Russell has a major deficit to make up going into Saturday's final practice and qualifying, with the latter live on Sky Sports F1 at 3pm, but could at least take some comfort from appearing to be more closely matched with Antonelli during Mercedes' impressive longer race simulation runs later in the session.
There was further woe for 2026 newcomers Cadillac as Sergio Perez stopped on track, just as he had done in the closing stages of the first session.
His team-mate Valtteri Bottas' car then caught fire in the pit lane as he attempted to limp back to the pits with part of his car floor dragging against the floor.
Russell concerned by McLaren pace
Somewhat bizarrely, Russell's concern after the session was focused on his deficit to the McLarens rather than Antonelli.
Russell said: "FP1 was a very strong session for us both, we looked really good, and then straight out of the blocks in FP2, McLaren looked flying, to be honest. Obviously, it was a disrupted session on my side, but their race pace, their single lap pace looks pretty decent.
"I think it was more everyone else had a pretty troubled (FP1) session. Every time I saw the TV screens it was drivers in the garage with problems. Lando only got out at the end, I think Lewis had some problems, Max had some problems. So, I think that probably flattered our pace a bit in FP1, but things were feeling good.
"It was a real surprise just seeing that first lap of the McLarens in P2, just right at the top. And their race pace, especially on Lando's side looked a bit better than us."
Russell's reflections were in contrast to Piastri's, who insisted McLaren were "a step behind" Mercedes.
Piastri said: "It was a pretty good day. We were a step behind Mercedes, or at least Kimi, which we expected.
"I think for Kimi to do that kind of time on his second lap on the soft is quite impressive, so we'll have to wait and see.
"We can't invent anything overnight, but there's definitely going to be areas for probably both of us to learn from each other, so we'll just try to apply those bits and see where we end up."
Should Russell have 'worried thoughts' in his head?
Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok suggested Russell might have "worried thoughts" in his head following Friday's track action.
"Of the Mercedes and McLaren drivers, three of them will sleep well," Chandhok said. "After FP2, George will be a little bit concerned about the gap.
"I think he played down talking about FP1 and the issues. But, ultimately, he had two goes on the softs and ended up quite some way behind.
"If I was him, there would be a few more worried thoughts in my head."
After Antonelli's impressive run of five successive wins, Russell appeared able to match his team-mate for pace for much of the weekend in Barcelona, but Chandhok thinks the Italian may be reasserting himself in Austria.
"He looks on devastating form," Chandhok added. "When we went to Barcelona, from the first run in practice, George looked like he was there and, if anything, a bit ahead.
"Here has been the opposite and like we saw in Monaco, Miami. It feels like there has been a status quo reset in terms of this season."
Sky Sports F1's live Austrian GP schedule
Saturday June 27
9am: F3 Sprint
11.15am: Austrian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)
1.10pm: F2 Sprint
2.15pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up*
3pm: AUSTRIAN GP QUALIFYING*
5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook
Sunday June 28
7.35am: F3 Feature Race
9.05am: F2 Feature Race
10.50am: Porsche Supercup
12.30pm: Austrian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
2pm: THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Austrian GP reaction: Chequered Flag
5pm: Ted's Notebook
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1's European season continues with the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime
