FP1: Russell tops opening practice at Spielberg, Dunne takes an impressive P4 for McLaren
On the back of his dominant victory at Montreal, Mercedes driver George Russell set the benchmark in the opening hour-hour session at the Austrian Grand Prix. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on FP1 from the Red Bull Ring.
George Russell looked dominant across the entire opening session at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver set the pace in the opening stages of the session despite running on Pirelli's hard while most of his rivals elected to use the medium in the first half of the session.
The four-time F1 race winner then opted for the red-walled soft tyres for his second stint, and set the pace on a 1m 05.542s before committing himself to a heavy-fuel run.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen, who has won at this track a record four times, was unable to challenge Russell in the opening stages of FP1, but he ended up just 0.065s adrift in P2.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri spent the first half of the session in the midfield, but he got his act together on the red-banded tyres to end up third quickest.
His team-mate Lando Norris missed the opening session of the weekend as he handed over his car to McLaren junior driver Alexander Dunne. The Irish driver displayed a stellar performance by ending up fourth on his first official outing for McLaren.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took fifth while Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto slotted into an impressive sixth. The Williams pair of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz ended up seventh and eighth.
Ferrari's seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton spent the majority of the session on Pirelli's mediums while he concentrated on evaluating the Scuderia's brand-new floor. The Briton ended up ninth fastest.
His team-mate Charles Leclerc endured similar fortunes to Norris as he sat out the opening one-hour practice. His car was driven by F2 driver Dino Beganovic, who took 18th.
Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 while Mercedes' teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli ended up in P11, ahead of Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg (12th), Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (13th), Alonso (14th) and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson (15th).
Completing his fifth race weekend for Alpine, Franco Colapinto put his A525 into P16, while Yuki Tsunoda ended up 17th. The Haas duo Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman were classified P19 and P20 respectively.
