FP2: Russell heads dominant Mercedes one-two in final Spielberg practice

The third and final free practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix delivered a tight hour of running, with George Russell rebounding strongly to put Mercedes back on top while Ferrari signaled genuine progress ahead of qualifying.

Russell produced the decisive lap of the session in the closing minutes, stopping the clock at 1:07.096s, a time that not only secured him P1 but also restored confidence after a more muted Friday.

His lap came at the end of a sequence of soft‑tyre runs across the field, and it proved just enough to keep his team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli at bay.

Ferrari’s pace was the headline story behind Russell. Both cars looked competitive from the outset, and Lewis Hamilton in particular appeared comfortable on low‑fuel runs.

His best lap left him just 0.115s shy of Russell, underlining Ferrari’s improved balance and traction at the Red Bull Ring.

Behind the Mercedes–Ferrari battle, McLaren remained firmly in the mix. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both delivered consistent laps, though neither quite matched the peak performance of the top three.

Red Bull endured an encouraging session. Max Verstappen, running in front of his home crowd in his heavily-upgraded RB22, ended the session in sixth place, three tenths back, while Charles Leclerc was two tenths slower than Hamilton as he took seventh.