Austrian GP FP1: Strong start for Russell, Verstappen, Piastri chase
F1 NewsFriday, 27 June 2025 at 14:32
George Russell topped the first practice session for the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix with Max Verstappen second fastest while Oscar Piastri was third.
Russell seemed to pick up from where he and Mercedes left in Canada two weeks ago and was fast out of the box at the Red Bull Ring a venue he won at back in 2024.
Verstappen was 0.065s behind Russell in the time sheets while Piastri was third, 0.155s off the pace. The Dutchman complained about front-end grip during the session.
But the start of the session had to be Alexander Dunne, the Formula 2 championship leader, who replaced Lando Norris at McLaren for FP1. He was fourth fastest, 0.069s behind Piastri.
Pierre Gasly was fifth fastest in the Alpine ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto who was sixth in the Sauber with Alex Albon seventh in the Williams.
Carlos Sainz was eighth fastest in the sister Williams with Lewis Hamilton ninth fastest in the Ferrari as the seven-time Formula 1 champion suffered from gearbox issues during the session.
Isack Hadjar was tenth fastest for the Racing Bulls as Kimi Antonelli was 11th in the other Mercedes, almost six tenths off the pace of his teammate.
Another F2 driver took part in the session. Dino Beganovic took over the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and finished the session 18th fastest.
Buildup towards FP1
Action resumed for the 2025 F1 season at the Austrian Grand Prix and Mercedes with Russell arrive riding the momentum of the Briton's win last time out in Canada.
While conditions were hot in Canada, the track layout and nature meant the tyres were not punished so this weekend will be the real test for Mercedes' upgrades whether they will cure their chronic tyre degradation issues.
This weekend, the Mercedes car will feature some track specific upgrades focused on engine and brake cooling.
McLaren will be looking to return to the top this weekend while making sure their drivers do not find each other on track like what happened in Canada.
McLaren have some some upgrades mainly around the front and rear suspension this weekend while Red Bull Racing have a new floor edge on their RB21 for their home race.
Verstappen will have a temporary race engineer replacing Gianpiero Lambiase this weekend. His name is Simon Rennie.
Ferrari brought more upgrades; a new floor fence, floor body, floor edge and a new diffuser.
In terms of upgrades, Sauber also have some, basically a revised floor body and a new rear wing while Racing Bulls have a new front wing and a track specific rear wing.
In terms of tyres, Pirelli went one step towards the harder end of their tyre spectrum and brought: C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium) and C5 (Soft).
FP 1 Session Highlights
The session started in clear conditions as the track temperature was 42 degrees Celsius while air temperature was 24 degrees.
As the drivers made their way out on track, Norris remained at the McLaren pitwall after handing his car over to Formula 2 championship leader, Dunne, while Leclerc was also watching from the sidelines with Beganovic driving his SF-25.
The drivers were on a mix of Hard and Medium tyres at the start while Dunne was on Softs with aero rakes fitted to his car at the start.
Soon Verstappen went deep into Turn 1, running wide but no drama. He reported that his car felt "Weird" at the front and doesn't turn.
With 40 minutes to go, Hamilton radioed asking if something was wrong as he returned to the pitlane. He was informed that their was a problem with the gearbox.
Antonelli reported front locking while Yuki Tsunoda soon locked up into Turn 3 and ended up in the run-off area reporting that his brakes were "really poor".
Oliver Bearman also had a wide moment at Turn 1.
The after, Albon had a wobble going into Turn 9 and went into the run-off area. That was a fast corner and he got caught out.
Towards the middle of the session, both Mercedes drivers bolted the Soft tyres on their car, the first of the lot to do so. Antonelli then went out of shape at Turn 9 and rode the kerbs really hard but kept going.
Other drivers soon followed suit and started their qualifying runs on the Soft compound.
The halfway into the session, Fernando Alonso had a massive spin in the final corner just as he put his foot down to start a flying lap on a new set of Softs. He did well with his quick reactions to keep the car out of the barriers.
"Okay, that was the worst out-lap we can do. Good to do it in FP1!" Alonso radioed.
Less than 20 minutes from the end, the top three were: Russell - Verstappen - Piastri.
20 minutes from the end, Esteban Ocon brought out a brief Yellow Flag having gone deep into Turn 1 after a heavy lockup. He made his way to the track.
He radioed: "Flat spot, left front, I think."
As the session entered the final 15 minute, it was time for some long runs on high fuel loads.
Then Russell reported some rain drops while Piastri soon after said it was raining in Turns 3 and 4, just a few drops as the McLaren pit wall assured him it would not get any worse.
Alonso and Gasly had a mini race out on track while on their runs. It ended with the Spaniard overtaking.
The session was concluded with practice starts.
Austrian GP FP1 Classification
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