2026 Austrian FP1: Antonelli leads Mercedes one-two

Mercedes laid down an early marker ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix as Kimi Antonelli topped Free Practice 1 at the Red Bull Ring, leading team-mate George Russell in a commanding one-two to continue the Silver Arrows’ impressive form at the start of the weekend.

The championship leader, who arrives in Spielberg with a 41-point advantage in the 2026 F1 World Championship, produced a best lap of 1m07.796s to edge Russell by just 0.040s. Oscar Piastri ensured McLaren remained firmly in the mix in third, another 0.117s adrift, as the leading teams began to reveal their pace around Formula 1’s shortest lap.

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Friday’s opening session also featured six rookie drivers as teams completed one of their mandatory young driver practice outings.

2026 Austrian Grand Prix FP1 Results

2026 Austrian Grand Prix FP1, 26 June 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:07.796	29
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.040s	30
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.117s	26
4	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.281s	17
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.665s	25
6	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+0.930s	18
7	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.077s	9
8	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+1.166s	27
9	38	Dino Beganovic	Ferrari	+1.258s	26
10	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.275s	26
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+1.369s	30
12	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+1.685s	11
13	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+1.725s	21
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.750s	28
15	90	Ayumu Iwasa	Racing Bulls	+1.841s	19
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+1.848s	31
17	97	Paul Aron	Audi	+1.850s	20
18	46	Luke Browning	Williams	+2.183s	29
19	50	Ryo Hirakawa	Haas F1 Team	+2.697s	23
20	34	Jak Crawford	Aston Martin	+3.406s	22
21	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+3.487s	14
22	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+3.537s	21

With ambient and track temperatures steadily rising, a queue had already formed at the pit lane exit before the green light at 13:30 local time. Almost the entire field immediately headed onto the circuit to complete installation laps and gather valuable early data, making for a busy opening phase around the compact Spielberg circuit.

One notable absentee was Max Verstappen. The four-time world champion’s Red Bull ground to a halt at the end of the pit lane before he had even completed an installation lap, forcing mechanics to wheel the RB22 back to the garage after Verstappen reported repeated anti-stall issues over the team radio.

Red Bull’s problems continued when a second attempt to release Verstappen around 15 minutes into the session ended in exactly the same fashion. The Milton Keynes squad endured a frustrating start overall, with Isack Hadjar also confined to the garage by technical issues and unable to begin his programme until just 24 minutes remained.

McLaren faced its own setback after reigning world champion Lando Norris was sidelined by a hydraulic leak. The Briton remained in the garage for much of the session before finally joining the action with only the final 14 minutes remaining.

Russell initially established the benchmark with a 1m10.407s, although the Mercedes driver immediately reported over team radio that the “throttle pedal feels weird compared to last week.” It did little to halt Mercedes’ momentum, however, as Antonelli soon moved ahead with a 1m09.119s while running the medium compound Pirelli tyres.

The Italian’s session was not entirely trouble-free. Antonelli locked his front tyres into Turn 1 and escaped across the run-off area, while Fernando Alonso repeated the mistake at the same corner. Lewis Hamilton also briefly ran wide under braking at Turn 3 as drivers searched for grip in the increasingly hot conditions.

Mercedes continued to trade fastest laps as their intra-team battle gathered pace. Russell lowered the benchmark to 1m08.898s before Antonelli immediately responded with a 1m08.448s to reclaim the top spot.

After finally resolving his earlier issues, Verstappen returned to the circuit shortly after the 20-minute mark and became the first driver to bolt on the soft tyres. The Dutchman climbed to third fastest but remained around six-tenths adrift of Antonelli, while also reporting a lack of confidence in the car.

“I have very little feeling, tyres feel hot,” Verstappen radioed as track temperatures climbed to approximately 50°C.

As the session entered its second half, Mercedes switched to the soft compound and immediately found another step in performance. Antonelli’s first flying lap on the red-marked tyres produced a 1m07.796s, initially putting him 0.119s clear of Russell.

Russell improved on his final attempt to trim the margin to just four hundredths of a second, but the Briton could not deny his younger team-mate, ensuring Antonelli completed the session fastest as Mercedes comfortably locked out the top two positions.

The closing minutes were interrupted by a red flag after Sergio Perez’s Cadillac suffered a mechanical failure and stopped on circuit, bringing proceedings to an early end.

Behind the Mercedes pair, Piastri finished third ahead of Verstappen, while Lewis Hamilton completed the top five for Ferrari. Racing Bulls youngster Arvid Lindblad impressed in sixth, followed by Norris despite his heavily disrupted session.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto ended the morning eighth, with Ferrari stand-in Dino Beganovic—driving in place of Charles Leclerc—ninth and Haas’ Ollie Bearman completing the top 10.

Nico Hulkenberg placed his Audi 11th ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Ayumu Iwasa—substituting for Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls—and Williams driver Alex Albon.

The remainder of the classification featured Paul Aron, deputising for Gabriel Bortoleto at Audi, Luke Browning in Carlos Sainz’s Williams, Ryo Hirakawa driving Esteban Ocon’s Haas, Jak Crawford filling in for Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, Sergio Perez after his late stoppage, and Fernando Alonso.