Russell tops steady opening practice in Austria

George Russell was the man to beat during the first hour of practice at the Austrian Grand Prix, ending a steady FP1 session marginally ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.

Not for the first time this season, the timesheets featured a set of rookie drivers for the opening hour of practice as two teams opted to tick off another haul of rookie practice runs around the familiar Red Bull Ring.

Partnering with his childhood hero for the second time this year, Dino Beganovic commandeered Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari to run alongside Lewis Hamilton. 

One garage further up the order, Alex Dunne was jumping into the cockpit of Lando Norris’ McLaren, taking it for a spin during FP1. 

Alongside the McLaren F2 prodigy, Oscar Piastri started his Austrian Grand Prix campaign on the medium tyre, remaining off the benchmark pace as he lapped almost three seconds slower than P1.

Completing eight laps on the same tyre set, Piastri achieved a fastest time of 1:07.067s which left him on the border of the top ten as he returned to the pitlane. 

Reemerging from the McLaren garage, Piastri was one of three drivers who remained on track while the rest of the field fell into a lull, improving into the top four fastest times in the process. 

When it came time for the Australian’s soft tyre run, McLaren sent Piastri out with a heavy coating of flow-vis paint on the right side of his MCL39 — despite the #81 opting to remain with the former configuration.

Putting his visor down, Piastri came within two-tenths of demoting the faster Mercedes-powered challenger of George Russell, setting for second fastest as his temporary rookie teammate impressively tracked less than a tenth behind him.  

The Australian rounded out the session on the medium tyre, completing 11 laps during his final long-run stint to finish the opening hour of practice in P4. 

Liam Lawson found early comfort within the top ten fastest times, setting an initial time of 1:08.592s on the medium compound tyre.

On his next flying run, the Kiwi shaved over a second off that lap, boosting his VCARB 02 into ninth position, less than a tenth behind his teammate — running the only upgraded front wing at RB — before he abandoned his first set of tyres after nine laps. 

Conducting his second stint of the hour, Lawson improved to sit within seven-tenths of the Mercedes-powered benchmark as the session reached the 30-minute mark.

Racing Bulls then sent both its drivers out on the soft compound tyre, with Lawson cementing his place in the top ten with a time of 1:06.234s.

Reducing his lap by a tenth on his next flying run, the #30 soon returned to the comfort of the RB garage as he ended yet another short run, undergoing a quick reset before reverting to the medium compound once more. 

Lawson circulated the Red Bull Ring nine times before rounding out the first hour of practice in P15.

As for the rest of the field, the session got underway as the light went green, with many teams maximising the first hour of running to gather data on upgrades in Austria. 

Max Verstappen emerged from the pitlane with green flow-vis paint splashed across the rear of his RB21, while the likes of Ferrari and McLaren sported large front and rear aero-rakes to get a read on their new components.  

As for the early timesheets, it was George Russell who commanded the first quarter-hour of FP1, setting the fastest time of a 1:06.139s on the hard compound tyre to lead over his rookie teammate by two-tenths. 

Kimi Antonelli — fresh off finishing his final school exams — returned to the pitlane after setting his then-fastest lap, expressing his concerns to the Mercedes pit wall regarding front-locking.

He wasn’t alone in his discomfort, with Verstappen, despite sitting as the fastest medium tyre runner of the session, complaining of brake issues across the short 4.3km lap. 

His Red Bull teammate was soon one of many drivers to be caught out by the difficult Turn 3 braking zone, locking up and relying on the run-off area as Yuki Tsunoda aborted his flying lap. 

Gearbox issues plagued Hamilton’s session after he was instructed to return to the pitlane, allowing a hoard of Ferrari mechanics to pry into the rear of his SF25, while the same occurred on the other side of the Italian garage where an in-depth floor inspection was underway on Beganovic’s car. 

The Ferrari crew solved both issues as the session progressed, allowing Hamilton and Beganovic to round out the latter third of FP1 on track. 

At the halfway point of the hour, a lull fell over the circuit, prompting Mercedes to make the early call to switch to the soft compound tyre, relishing in the clear track while the rest of the field sheltered in the pitlane.

Russell again set the pace as he recorded a red-marked time of 1:05.542s, remaining at the head of the pack for the foreseeable future.

Verstappen was his closest rival, coming within 0.065s of the Canadian Grand Prix winner while the McLaren duo slotted in behind. 

Soft tyre runs concluded as light rain made an appearance at Turns 3 and 4, however, it wasn’t enough to impact the final stint of long-run performance tests. 

Traffic interference was though, with young and old both learning and remembering the turbulence-related issues that come with the short lap around the Red Bull Ring before the chequered flag fell on FP1.

Holding out as the fastest man of the hour, George Russell’s benchmark time of 1:05.542s earned him P1 to start the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, ahead of Verstappen and Piastri as the field completed their first practice starts on the Red Bull Ring grid. 

With a lot of data to analyse in between sessions, the second hour of practice will arrive in no time with FP2 kicking off at 01:00 AEST. 

Image: Formula 1

Free Practice 1 Results:

2025 Austrian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, June 27:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, June 28:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, June 29:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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