Austrian GP FP2: Norris from Piastri & Verstappen, Russell drops
F1 NewsFriday, 27 June 2025 at 21:02
Lando Norris after missing out on FP1, was plug-and-play in FP2 and went fastest at the end of the session ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri while Max Verstappen was third fastest.
Norris made way for Alex Dunne in FP1 but he did not seem affected as he was up to speed immediately and set the fastest lap of FP2, 1:04.580 and was a tenth and a half clear of Piastri, over three tenth clear of Verstappen in third.
It is worth noting though that Norris was running a newer specification of McLaren's suspension in FP2. Piastri wasn't.
Verstappen ran a different program to the other drivers, starting the session on the Soft tyres and using two sets of the red-walled tyres his team basically focusing on one-lap-pace.
However, the four-time Formula 1 champion could not edge closer to the McLarens at the end of the afternoon session at the Red Bull Ring.
Verstappen was late to get out on track as his mechanics were working on changing the setup of his car, but he cannot be ruled out with Red Bull Racing usually finding some answers overnight and with his power unit fully turned up on Saturday, he will be in the mix.
The anomaly of FP2 was Lance Stroll going fourth fastest, 0.442s off the pace and ahead of Charles Leclerc who was in his car after missing out on FP1.
Ferrari were working on understanding their latest upgrades as Leclerc was over six tenths slower than Norris' benchmark time.
After topping FP1, George Russell was down in sixth in FP2 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in seventh while Gabriel Bortoleto was eighth - another anomaly.
Fernando Alonso was ninth in the the second Aston Martin, but it was Lewis Hamilton who was really struggling as he finished the session down in tenth over nine tenths off the top time.
Kimi Antonelli was down in 11th place while the Williams cars did not seem as good as they were in previous races this year. Alex Albon was 16th while Carlos Sainz was 17th.
Buildup towards FP2
While it would not be smart to read too much into the outcome of FP1, Mercedes and Russell seem to be strong once again.
This weekend should be a better test for Mercedes' W16 and whether the tyre degradation issues are finally behind them but early signs are encouraging for the eight-time constructors' champions.
But the question remains whether they can maintain their form over the rest of the weekend.
Verstappen wasn't happy with his RB21 but was close to Russell while Piastri also showed he would be in the mix while Norris sat out the session giving Alex Dunne a chance to sample an F1 car which he did impressively.
Ferrari hit trouble with Hamilton while Leclerc was on the sidelines with Dino Beganovic driving in his place so the picture will be different once the full time drivers return to their cockpits respectively.
Towards the end of FP1, the clouds gathered and some drivers reported drops of rain here and there but overall the rain stayed away as time passed towards FP2.
FP2 Session Highlights
Track temperature dropped around four degrees compared to FP1, and was 38 degrees Celsius at the start of FP2 with air temperature at 26 degrees.
The drivers did not waste any time getting out and were soon on track with a mix of Medium and Hard tyres bolted to the cars.
Soon Liam Lawson reported that something was wrong with the steering that was pulling to the right. He limped back to the pits to find a fix.
The Kiwi explained that his car would turn hard to the right if he lets go of the steering wheel.
With almost ten minutes gone from the session, neither Verstappen no Yuki Tsunoda were out on track, the Dutchman not even seated in his car.
Alex Albon while on a flying lap was out of shape into Turn 3 and ran wide on the kerbs. Bearman had a same moment but at Turn 9.
12 minutes into the session, Tsunoda was out on track but there was no sign of Verstappen who remained in the garage as the team continued changing the setup on hid RB21.
Then Leclerc radioed that his car is not decelerating at all into Turn 1.
Past the 15-minute mark and Verstappen finally made his way out on track. He was on the Soft tyres. He goes second fastest. Lawson also rejoined after his earlier steering issue.
Leclerc then went for an excursion into the grass out of Turn 6. He also had a moment at Turn 3 where his SF-24 snapped.
On the other hand, Antonelli was not happy with a slow Hamilton coming into Turn 4 and had to go on the kerbs to avoid him. Hamilton wasn't having a good time informing his team that "for some reason" he had no pace.
The stewards had a look at the incident and will investigate it further after the session.
Nico Hulkenberg was out of sorts in Turn 1 and ran into the run-off area while Norris ran wide at Turn 9 giving his car a beating on the kerbs.
By mid session, the McLarens were in control, Norris leading Piastri the timing screens while timings were reshuffled behind them as drivers went on putting in the laps on Soft tyres.
Oliver Bearman had a wide moment at Turn 6 dipping a wheel in the gravel, but kept going.
With 20 minutes remaining, Russell shifted to Mediums signaling the start of the long runs, but he was soon on the radio reporting an issue with the weight of his steering.
Alonso soo reported "too much bouncing" with his AMR25, while Antonelli ran wide while exiting Turn 1 and went hard over the kerbs.
Hulkenberg, on the other hand, radioed saying he wasn't "feeling the love" from the front end of his car that was not gripping.
Verstappen was also struggling with the font end of his RB21 and reported so while doing a race simulation.
Gasly asked his team to check if there was something broken on his car as he was all over the place in Turns 1 and 6 labeling the situation a disaster.
The session was concluded with practice starts. Verstappen's was interesting to watch as he went deep on the brakes as he was trying to test the limits of how late he can brake. He was clearly thinking about Lap 1 on Sunday.
Austrian GP FP2 Classification
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