Formula 1 heads to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix, the second-shortest circuit on the calendar after Monaco. Despite its compact layout, the track presents a unique challenge thanks to high temperatures, significant altitude and heavy demands on the braking system.
Much of the attention this weekend is focused on Ferrari, which arrives in Austria fresh from its victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. The Scuderia has introduced a slightly updated SF-26 as it prepares to battle Mercedes, McLaren and a Red Bull team that has brought a major upgrade package to its home race in an effort to close the gap to its rivals. With plenty of technical developments to evaluate, the opening practice session promised to provide valuable early indications.
Austrian GP 2026 FP1 summary
Several reserve drivers were once again in action during the first practice session, including Dino Beganovic, Ayumu Iwasa, Luke Browning, Jak Crawford, Paul Aron and Ryo Hirakawa. Those drivers were among the first to head out onto the scorching Red Bull Ring circuit.
Lewis Hamilton immediately took to the track on the medium compound tyres to begin evaluating Ferrari’s latest upgrades. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen’s session got off to a disastrous start, with his RB22 coming to a halt in the pit lane just moments after leaving the garage. It was a major setback considering Red Bull had arrived with an extensive package of new components to assess. Shortly before the session began, Isack Hadjar’s car had undergone work on its cooling system, which had been drained and re-pressurised, potentially hinting at a connection with Verstappen’s issue.
Kimi Antonelli wasted no time in setting the early benchmark on the C4 tyres. At the same time, Lando Norris returned to the McLaren garage after only around ten minutes, with his MCL40 placed on stands as mechanics worked on the car.
Lewis Hamilton’s opening run lasted only four laps before Ferrari brought him back into the pits to make setup changes. Out front, Kimi Antonelli continued to improve, lowering the benchmark to a 1:09.001 after the first 15 minutes, with George Russell just one tenth of a second behind. Max Verstappen’s problems continued, as his second attempt to leave the pit lane ended exactly like the first, with the car stopping only a few metres from the garage.
George Russell then briefly moved to the top of the timesheets by 0.109 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli after 16 minutes, as track conditions improved rapidly. Meanwhile, Lando Norris remained in the garage while McLaren carried out further work to re-pressurise the hydraulic system.
After 20 minutes, Max Verstappen finally managed to get out on track at the third attempt. The second Red Bull remained in the garage while its hydraulic system was also being serviced. Mercedes quickly resumed its programme on medium tyres, with Kimi Antonelli reclaiming first place in 1:08.448. George Russell also improved but remained three tenths behind his teammate. Running on the soft tyres, Max Verstappen immediately jumped to third place ahead of Oscar Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton returned to the circuit on another set of medium tyres after Ferrari completed around 20 minutes of setup work in the garage. Interestingly, even after half an hour, the seven-time world champion was still behind Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic in the classification. Highlighting that he was still searching for confidence with the SF-26, Lewis Hamilton ran wide at Turn 1, although he avoided any damage.
As the session reached the halfway mark, the C5 soft tyres began to appear. Kimi Antonelli set the fastest lap of the day with a 1:07.796, leading George Russell by 0.119 seconds. George Russell improved on his second attempt but remained just 0.040 seconds adrift. Lewis Hamilton overtook Dino Beganovic on the timesheets while continuing a nine-lap stint on the medium compound.
With around 20 minutes remaining, Lewis Hamilton switched to the soft tyres just as Mercedes began its race simulation programme on the mediums. His first qualifying-style lap was not particularly competitive, leaving him third, 0.753 seconds off the pace.
Lewis Hamilton improved slightly on his second flying lap, but both Oscar Piastri, with an impressive 1:07.913, and Max Verstappen went faster, dropping the Ferrari driver to fifth place. Lando Norris finally returned to the circuit with only 15 minutes remaining, beginning his programme much later than planned on the medium tyres.
Mercedes’ long-run pace looked particularly encouraging despite a noticeable performance drop after around ten laps, a trend that also affected several other teams. Overall, the Silver Arrows appeared to have made an excellent start to the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
With just two minutes remaining, the session was red-flagged after Sergio Perez’s Cadillac came to a stop on track following a power unit failure.
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- Kimi Antonelli
- George Russell
- Oscar Piastri
- Max Verstappen
- Lewis Hamilton
- Arvid Lindblad
- Lando Norris
- Franco Colapinto
- Dino Beganovic
- Oliver Bearman
- Nico Hulkenberg
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