Formula 1 world championship leader Kimi Antonelli fought off a spirited challenge from the McLaren duo to top Austrian Grand Prix FP2 for Mercedes.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both took turns at the top of the order, but Antonelli was able to go top with half an hour to go on the softs and before the long runs dominated.
His Mercedes team-mate George Russell lost the first eight minutes of the session in what looked like a scheduled tweak to the car, but one that was clearly delayed and ate into the start of the session. He was only sixth in recovery.
So Piastri went second, 0.237s behind Antonelli, with Norris having by far the most eventful session.
Like others, he struggled at Turn 3, with a quite surprising-looking spin where he appeared to be hitting the apex but the rear snapped around early in the session.
Then he went straight on during his long run towards the end of the session. He also went onto the gravel at Turn 8, perhaps impacted by how little running he got in FP1 due to technical issues.
At risk of writing this whole report about Norris, he was also told to cool the brakes after the session finished and replied he thought they’d “been on fire for like five laps, mate”.
If Norris had an eventful session, the Red Bull team appeared to be rivalling him for a reward in this area.
First, Max Verstappen was forced to stop in the pits because his seating position was too laid back!
He managed to get up to fourth in the order, but like team-mate Isack Hadjar, who slid dramatically, both cars were struggling with driveability at Turn 3. Verstappen mentioned the RPM dropping, specifically.
Then, an unsighted Red Bull ran wide at the final corner in the long runs and lost some bodywork. Not helpful with a big new upgrade installed.
The new engine in the Ferrari powered Lewis Hamilton to fifth, with Charles Leclerc down in ninth, but the latter had an unseen issue on his final flying lap and bailed out.
Behind Hamilton were Russell, Hadjar and Leclerc.
Liam Lawson led the ‘midfield’ for Racing Bulls, ahead of the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto.
After a truncated FP1 spent mostly in the garage and with a stop on track, Sergio Perez’s gremlins were clearly unresolved as he stopped between Turns 6 and 7 eight minutes into the session and his Cadillac had to be recovered.
Not long after, it was clear something was wrong when Valtteri Bottas left the pits as the front of his car dragged on the floor and he missed the rest of the session. Just eight laps were completed for the Cadillac pair in FP2, crucial with a new update on board.
Results
1 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m07.014s
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.237s
3 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.325s
4 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.550s
5 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.597s
6 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.623s
7 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.744s
8 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.841s
9 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.221s
10 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.286s
11 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.362s
12 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.364s
13 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +1.518s
14 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.545s
15 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.816s
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.817s
17 Alex Albon (Williams) +1.824s
18 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +2.117s
19 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +3.530s
20 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +3.684s
21 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +4.293s
22 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) no time