FP1

The first practice session in Austria was a special moment for Alex Dunne, who made his Formula 1 debut with McLaren by stepping in for Lando Norris. At Ferrari, Dino Beganovic also got a chance to drive, replacing Charles Leclerc, and while it was his second time in an F1 session, it was Dunne’s very first.

Ferrari brought several upgrades to Austria, including a new floor and diffuser, which the team started testing right away. Red Bull also made floor changes, McLaren focused on updates to the suspension and rear of the car, and Mercedes arrived with a new engine cover and brake duct design to suit the demands of the Red Bull Ring. Mercedes came into the weekend with momentum after Russell’s win and Antonelli’s third place in Canada.

Dunne had some problems with the radio early in the session, saying he could hear multiple voices at once, which wasn’t ideal during his first time in an F1 car. On track, Russell set the early pace on hard tyres with a time of 1:06.537. Verstappen, who is working with a different engineer this weekend, went off at Turn 1 and looked frustrated, while Tsunoda also went off at Turn 3.

Despite some front locking, Antonelli improved to second place, staying close to Russell. Hamilton had been running outside the top ten when a gearbox issue forced him to return to the garage, while Beganovic also had to stop for floor checks. Both drivers were able to get back out on track later in the session.

Russell improved his time on soft tyres to 1:05.776 and stayed ahead of the field. Alonso spun at the final corner, causing a yellow flag, but only his tyres were damaged. He later said it was a bad out-lap, but at least it happened in practice.

Piastri then switched to soft tyres and got close to Russell’s time, before Verstappen went even quicker and closed the gap to just 0.065 seconds. Dunne also returned to the soft tyres and put in a great lap, going fourth fastest and finishing just behind Piastri in an impressive debut.

In the final minutes, Russell reported a few drops of rain, but although the sky turned darker, the track stayed dry. Russell ended the session in first place, followed by Verstappen, Piastri, and Dunne, whose strong performance was one of the standout moments of the day. Behind them, Pierre Gasly finished fifth, just ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto in sixth and Alex Albon in seventh. Carlos Sainz was eighth for Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton in ninth after earlier gearbox issues, and Isack Hadjar rounded out the top ten for Racing Bulls.

FP2

The second practice session began with problems for Liam Lawson. Right after leaving the pit lane, he said his steering was pulling heavily to the right and returned slowly to the garage.

Mercedes started strong, with Russell and Antonelli setting the early pace on medium tyres. But McLaren quickly took over. Oscar Piastri went fastest on hard tyres, and Lando Norris, back after missing FP1, soon moved ahead despite a small trip through the gravel. Russell improved and briefly split the McLarens, but Norris stretched the gap with a cleaner lap.

Charles Leclerc, back in the Ferrari, reported braking issues and later ended up in the gravel at Turn 6. Lewis Hamilton also had difficulties. He said he had no pace and then held up Antonelli at Turn 4, which led to an FIA investigation. Hamilton said he didn’t see him.

Max Verstappen joined the session later than most but quickly went second on soft tyres. Norris soon overtook him on track, and Verstappen questioned the move over the radio. Russell responded with a fast lap to go quickest, but Piastri improved and moved well ahead. Norris then took back first place with purple times in all three sectors.

In the final part of the session, Lance Stroll impressed by moving into the top three. Nico Hulkenberg ran wide at Turn 1 and later said he had no front grip. His team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto had a cleaner run and finished eighth. Oliver Bearman also slid into the gravel at Turn 6. Most drivers then focused on long runs. Antonelli had more mistakes and Verstappen said he was struggling with the front tyres before returning to the pits.

When the session ended, Norris stayed fastest ahead of Piastri and Verstappen. Stroll was fourth, Leclerc fifth and Russell sixth. Hamilton ended the session in tenth place.