Piastri “in a happy place” after showing promise in Austria

Forming the back half of McLaren’s FP2 lockout, Oscar Piastri says he is “in a happy place” after finding encouraging pace across the first day of practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Teaming up with Alex Dunne, F2 driver and member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, for the first hour of practice, it took Piastri a while to find his groove when he started the session on the medium compound tyre. 

Completing eight laps on the same tyre set, the Australian only managed to achieve a fastest time of 1:07.067s on the C4 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 circulated the 4.3km track while the rest of the field fell into a lull, improving into the top four with the advantage of clear air. 

When it came time for the Australian’s first soft tyre run of the weekend, McLaren sent Piastri out with a heavy coating of flow-vis paint on the right side of his MCL39 — Piastri running some upgrades, however, opting to remain with the former suspension configuration.

Putting his visor down, the #81 came within two-tenths of demoting the faster Mercedes-powered challenger of George Russell, settling for second fastest as his temporary rookie teammate impressively tracked less than a tenth behind him.  

“It looked pretty good,” Piastri said.

“Max’s is still close, so I think he’ll be definitely a threat this weekend but the car is feeling good. 

“I think the pace is quite good, so positive first day.”

The Australian rounded out FP1 on the medium tyre, completing 11 laps during his final long simulation to finish the opening hour of practice as the fourth-fastest driver around the Red Bull Ring. 

“There’s some other bits and pieces (upgrades),” he said.

“I’m not using the bits that came in Canada because they’re then not an upgrade. 

“They’re just different. 

“So all the parts that we think will make the car faster are on both cars.”

The FIA listed McLaren as having three technical upgrades for Austria, with those three coming in the form of changes to the front suspension, front corner and rear corner — all for performance as opposed to circuit-specific. 

The revised fairings have been employed to provide better flow conditioning and aerodynamic performance gain at the front of the MCL39, while at the rear, the team’s reconfigured rear suspension geometry led to aero surfaces having to be altered to maintain clearances and improve load. 

Lando Norris also gave his two cents on the feeling of his team’s new upgrades from the cockpit, adding: “I’ll just say yes, [they work], but I need to see with the team. 

“We’re doing different tests between cars as always when we have new parts on the car. 

“I’m sure things have all moved in the right direction. 

“How much and the quantity of things is hard to know, but I’ll see with the team later.”

The second hour of practice saw both full-time McLaren drivers back in their usual seats, with Norris joining his teammate for FP2 and instantly making his presence known.

Having racked up an extra hour of experience over his teammate, Piastri made a sure impact on the timesheets when he shot to the top of the order with a time of 1:06.129s, though his lead didn’t last long when Norris put his foot to the floor, more than mirroring his championship rival’s efforts by slotting into P1 as Piastri skated across the abrasive Austrian kerbs.

After completing a total of 10 laps, the #81 returned to the pitlane in P4, losing out to the medium and soft tyre runners of Norris, Russell and Verstappen as he lapped on the white-marked. 

“I think Max is definitely gonna be in there — George, I’m not sure,” Piastri said.

“I think Mercedes looked very quick in FP1, but FP2 not quite as strong.”

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

That lap remained the 24-year-old’s fastest in FP2, placing him 0.157s behind his teammate as McLaren found form once again.

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

Ending the session by completing 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. 

Piastri will have one more hour of practice ahead of the first competitive session of the weekend in Qualifying, with FP3 taking place at 20:30 AEST before the hour shootout at 00:00 AEST.

Image: McLaren

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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