Friday Report - Antonelli completes perfect Friday

Kimi Antonelli
© Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli completed a perfect Friday at Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix by topping second practice at the Red Bull Ring after also leading the opening session earlier in the day.

The Mercedes championship leader produced a best lap of 1m07.014s in scorching conditions at Spielberg to head both McLarens, with Oscar Piastri finishing second and Lando Norris third as teams began to reveal their true pace on soft tyres.

Track temperatures approached 49C and created difficult conditions throughout the hour-long session. Most teams initially ran medium and hard tyres before switching to qualifying simulations after the halfway mark, but the early running was interrupted by several reliability concerns.

Alex Albon reported a loss of power aboard his Williams, Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad also encountered technical issues, while Sergio Perez stopped his Cadillac at Turn 6 with an overheating problem. Perez’s stoppage triggered a brief virtual safety car and severely curtailed the Mexican’s session.

Once the action resumed, Antonelli immediately demonstrated Mercedes’ strength by becoming the first driver to beat his own FP1 benchmark. Running on medium tyres, the Italian posted a 1m07.657s before the soft-tyre qualifying simulations began.

Piastri briefly displaced him with a 1m07.251s, while Norris slotted into contention and Lewis Hamilton moved within striking distance for Ferrari. Antonelli, however, responded emphatically, first reclaiming top spot with a 1m07.209s before lowering the benchmark once more to 1m07.014s with 20 minutes remaining.

That effort remained unbeaten as teams turned their attention to longer runs on the harder compounds during the closing stages.

Piastri ended the session 0.237s adrift in second on 1m07.251s, with Norris third on 1m07.339s. Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull with a 1m07.564s, ahead of Hamilton on 1m07.611s and Mercedes team-mate George Russell on 1m07.637s.

Isack Hadjar continued Red Bulls’ encouraging form in seventh on 1m07.758s despite suffering intermittent engine RPM drops at Turn 3. Charles Leclerc was eighth on 1m07.855s, followed by Liam Lawson (1m08.235s) and Gabriel Bortoleto (1m08.300s).

Further back, Pierre Gasly recorded 1m08.376s, Lindblad 1m08.378s, Oliver Bearman 1m08.532s, Nico Hulkenberg 1m08.559s, Esteban Ocon 1m08.830s, Franco Colapinto 1m08.831s, Albon 1m08.838s, Carlos Sainz 1m09.131s, Fernando Alonso 1m10.544s, Lance Stroll 1m10.698s and Valtteri Bottas 1m11.307s, while Perez failed to set a representative lap after his early retirement.