McLaren back on top with FP2 lockout

McLaren was back in fighting form as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri topped a tame second hour of practice, leading over Max Verstappen to round out the first day of running at the Austrian Grand Prix. 

Rolling out of the pitlane and onto the Red Bull Ring for Free Practice 2, it was a calm start to the session as the drivers gradually filtered from their garages.

Having racked up an extra hour of experience over his teammate during FP1, Oscar Piastri made an instant impact on the timesheets when he shot to the top of the order with a time of 1:06.129s.

However, his lead didn’t last long when Norris put his foot to the floor, more than mirroring his championship rival’s efforts when the #4 moved into P1 as Piastri skated across the abrasive Austrian kerbs.

After completing a total of 10 laps, the Australian returned to the garage with the fourth fastest lap to his name, losing out to the medium and soft tyre runners of Norris, Russell and Verstappen during the short-lived lull. 

Piastri returned to the circuit with a fresh set of C5s at his disposal, burning rubber across the 4.3km when he recorded three purple sectors to achieve a temporary benchmark time of 1:04.737s. 

That lap remained Piastri’s fastest in FP2, placing him 0.157s behind his teammate as McLaren found its form once again.

Following the popular trend in the last quarter-hour of the session, Piastri engaged in race simulations on the hard compound tyre, lapping with the fourth-fastest pace in the 1:09.7s — four-tenths slower than Norris who was the fastest on track in all regards. 

Ending the session with a practice start on the grid, the Australian secured the second-fastest time of the day, giving himself relative confidence heading into Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix. 

As for Liam Lawson, the Kiwi’s session got off to an unfavourable start when he instantly detected a steering issue during his initial out-lap, jumping on the team radio to say that something was “not right”, divulging that the wheel was pulling him “massively to the right” as he trundled back to the pitlane. 

The Racing Bulls crew got to work, discovering an issue at the right rear of the car that RB Team Principal Laurent Mekies attributed to a mistake during setup changes in between practice sessions. 

Having lost 15 minutes of practice, Lawson was back out on track, armed with the hard compound tyre to restart his FP2 campaign. 

The Kiwi’s first genuine flying lap reaped a time of 1:06.647s, placing him sixteenth fastest to get the ball rolling. 

Shaving six-tenths off his previous lap, Lawson boosted his VCARB 02 into the top ten before the Racing Bulls teammate soon found themselves separated by just four-thousandths of a second. 

When it came time for race simulations to kick off, that interval remained intact while Lawson circulated Red Bull’s home track with race pace varying between the 1m9s-1m12s. 

Brushing aside the issues that plagued the start of his FP2 session, Lawson ended his first-ever day running around the Red Bull Ring in P12.

Expanding to a view of the entire field, there were still a few cobwebs to shake as the session got underway — particularly at Turns 3 and on the run into the final corner — as the grid began testing the braking limits around the 4.3km circuit.

Already on the back foot, Charles Leclerc was caught out at Turn 6 when the rear of his SF25 stepped out just moments after Ferrari received feedback of its car having “no pace”.

As a result, the Monegasque took an unwanted trip through the gravel, adopting the role of groundskeeper as his Ferrari morphed into a lawnmower across the grass. 

His teammate wasn’t having much fun either, unable to spot his rivals in his mirrors when he was noted for an impeding incident against Kimi Antonelli as he veered onto the racing line atop a blind crest.

On the timing sheets, the front-running constructor pathed the way as the session began to take shape, holding the early benchmark before Russell and Verstappen split the McLarens.

That order held true until the soft tyre runs kicked off, with Piastri lighting up the timesheets before Norris had his say, putting just under two-tenths between the rivals when he moved back into the top spot with a time of 1:04.580s.

Soon after, the timesheets reflected a Mercedes-powered top four, however, the surprise contribution to that theme was Lance Stroll, who had boosted his Aston Martin into a rare third-fastest time slot, sitting four-tenths behind the benchmark after the entire field had recorded a red-marked attempt. 

It took a four-time World Champion’s best FP2 efforts to dethrone the Aston Martin driver of his top three result, with Verstappen knocking Stroll down a peg before a unanimous program shift hit the circuit. 

The final 15 minutes of Free Practice 2 saw the teams’ focus centre around race simulations, with the C3 and C4 tyres making their return to the Red Bull Ring tarmac.

The compound switch saw many drivers kicking up gravel as they continued to test their limits, particularly at the entry to Turn 7 and on the exit of Turn 9 where the rookies of Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto learnt the hard way.

The uphill braking zone into Turn 1 continued to cause trouble, with grip becoming an issue through to the post-chequered flag practice starts on the grid, when Max Verstappen locked up into the first turn, ending Friday on a sour note despite joining the McLaren duo in the top three.

Lando Norris’ benchmark lap of 1:04.580s was ratified as the track action came to an end, with the #4 making his intentions known after missing the morning session in favour of McLaren completing one of four rookie driver sessions during FP1. 

The Brit will have a full day of running on Saturday at the Austrian Grand Prix, with Qualifying the priority, however, not before the final hour of practice takes place.

Free Practice 3 will kickstart at 20:30 AEST on Saturday, followed by the hour shootout at 00:00 AEST.

Image: Formula 1

Free Practice 2 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

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine