Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell led Austrian GP practice, finishing one second ahead of their rivals.
championship Leader Kimi Antonelli finished ahead of his Mercedes teammate George Russell in Friday’s opening free practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The two ‘Silver Arrows’ remained in front throughout the entire hour-long session, and overtook third-placed McLaren’s Oscar Piastri for second place as they demonstrated complete dominance.
Antonelli, 19, who leads the championship by 41 points ahead of seven-time champion Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, clocked a best lap of one minute and 7.796 seconds on a hot day in the Styrian Alps, pipping Russell by 0.040 seconds.
Four-time champion Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull, 0.281 seconds off the pace, ahead of Hamilton and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad.
“It’s a real struggle,” said Hamilton, whose first Ferrari win in Spain moved him into second place in the title race.
Defending champion Lando Norris, in the second McLaren, missed 45 minutes of action due to hydraulic problems and finished seventh fastest.
The session began with six reserve drivers in the pack, as Sergio Pérez led his heavily updated Cadillac, one of several teams including Audi, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes to introduce upgrade packages for the eighth round of the championship.
The race was declared a heat-hazardous event, enabling the use of cooling vests by the drivers, but paddock chat was more concerned with various appeals after the Monaco Grand Prix, one of which reinstated Alpine’s Pierre Gasly to third place.
He was penalized for speeding in the pit lane but the team proved that the speed limit was miscalculated.
