Antonelli Tops Austrian GP FP2 as Norris and Red Bull Hit Trouble

Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli put Mercedes on top of Austrian Grand Prix FP2, narrowly beating McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in a session defined by mechanical dramas and driver errors up and down the grid. While Antonelli set the benchmark on soft tires, several rivals spent the afternoon fighting their machinery rather than the clock.

Why it matters:

Friday practice at the Red Bull Ring is critical for race setups and upgrade validation before qualifying. With several teams debuting new parts, the volume of interruptions suggests plenty of overnight work ahead of Saturday.

The details:

• Front-runners: Antonelli's 1m07.014s edged Piastri by 0.237s, with Norris a further tenth back. George Russell lost the opening eight minutes to a delayed car tweak and recovered to sixth.
• Norris's busy afternoon: The McLaren driver spun at Turn 3, ran wide at Turn 8, and straightlined a long-run lap. He also reported brakes he thought had been "on fire for like five laps."
• Red Bull's upgrade pain: Max Verstappen halted early because his seating position was too laid back, and later reported RPM drops through Turn 3. Both he and Isack Hadjar struggled with driveability, and an unseen Red Bull shed bodywork during long runs, compromising data on the new package.
• Cadillac's nightmare: After a truncated FP1, Sergio Perez stopped on track eight minutes into the session and Valtteri Bottas soon followed with a front floor issue that dragged on the asphalt. The pair managed just eight laps combined, leaving them with minimal preparation.
• Ferrari split: Lewis Hamilton took fifth with a new power unit, but Charles Leclerc ended up ninth after an unseen issue forced him to abandon his final flying lap.

What's next:

Teams now have a short window to analyze limited long-run data before qualifying. Mercedes and McLaren appear to hold the raw pace, but Red Bull and Cadillac must resolve their issues quickly to avoid a compromised weekend.