Practice 1 Report - Russell leads Austrian session

George Russell, Canadian GP 2025
© Mercedes

George Russell topped the timesheets in Friday's first practice for the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, continuing his strong form following victory in Canada two weeks ago.

The Mercedes driver posted a benchmark time of 1m05.542s on soft tyres around the short, high-speed Red Bull Ring circuit, edging out the Red Bull circuit favorite Max Verstappen by just 0.065s. Russell reported light rain in the closing minutes, which, combined with heavy traffic, prevented any late challenges to his time.

Behind them, championship leader Oscar Piastri placed third in the lead McLaren. Lando Norris gave up his seat to rookie Alex Dunne, who made an impressive Formula 1 debut.

The 18-year-old Irishman, currently leading the Formula 2 standings, finished fourth overall and was just 0.069s off Piastri. Dunne's composed run on softs around the Styrian track earned admiration from the McLaren pitwall. "This is the best day of my life," Dunne said over the radio, thanking the team for the opportunity.

Alpine's Pierre Gasly secured fifth, narrowly ahead of Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, who continues to impress with his speed and consistency. The Williams duo of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz followed in seventh and eighth respectively, though Sainz was the only driver inside the top ten to set his best time on medium tyres.

Lewis Hamilton struggled with a gearbox issue in his Ferrari and could only manage ninth place. Meanwhile, Isack Hadjar rounded out the top ten in the Racing Bulls entry, in another solid showing for the Red Bull junior.

Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli was 11th, just behind Hadjar, while Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic, subbing for Charles Leclerc, was down in 18th. The Swede had a low-key session as Ferrari opted for limited running.

Fernando Alonso spun at the final corner on a flying lap, citing "the worst out-lap we could do" after struggling to warm up his soft tyres.

At the back, Haas endured another difficult session, with Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman slowest of all, nearly 1.2 seconds off the leading pace.

With weather likely to remain variable across the weekend, teams gathered critical dry data in the session.