Austrian GP: Kimi Antonelli tops first practice as Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar, Lando Norris suffer unreliability issues

26.06.2026, 16:13 skysports.com

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli led George Russell in a Mercedes one-two in first practice at the Austrian Grand Prix as their rivals ran into reliability problems.

Two weeks after being beaten by Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona, Mercedes demonstrated they are still favourites for this weekend's race at the Red Bull Ring as the Mercedes duo swapped places at the top of the timesheet throughout the session.

Antonelli, who leads Hamilton by 41 points in the Drivers' Championship and Russell by 50 points, ended up on top by 0.040s with McLaren's Oscar Piastri just one tenth behind in third.

But, the other McLaren of Lando Norris lost 45 minutes of track time due to a hydraulics leak and is already on the backfoot.

Both Red Bulls also spent time in the garage as software problems for Max Verstappen saw him stop twice in the pit lane in the opening 20 minutes, while Isack Hadjar was forced to change his engine after the team discovered a late problem, costing him around half of the session.

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Red Bull have almost a new car for their home event with visible aerodynamic changes that they hope will get them closer to the front.

Verstappen finished the session fourth, 0.281s behind Antonelli, but was unhappy with the balance of the car, claiming the "whole car is shaking under braking".

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Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok said: "It's not ideal, especially for Red Bull because they brought a big update here so would have wanted both cars out there, gathering data and gaining comparisons.

"Not ideal for McLaren and Norris as well. But if it's going to happen, it's better to happen in FP1 because you then have two sessions to catch up."

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Ferrari are set to run their upgraded engine from Saturday, so Hamilton's fifth place in first practice may not be a true representation of their pace as he was over six tenths off the front.

Charles Leclerc was one of six drivers to give up their seat for a rookie as each driver is obligated to let a rookie driver their car in two practice sessions in the season.

Leclerc was replaced by Formula 2 driver Dino Beganovic, who was the best of the rookies, in ninth while full-time rookie Arvid Lindblad impressed in sixth for Racing Bulls.

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Friday June 261.55pm: F3 Qualifying2.30pm: Team bosses' press conference2.50pm: F2 Qualifying3.35pm: Austrian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)5.15pm: The F1 Show

Saturday June 279am: F3 Sprint11.15am: Austrian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)1.10pm: F2 Sprint2.15pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up*3pm: AUSTRIAN GP QUALIFYING*5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

Sunday June 287.35am: F3 Feature Race9.05am: F2 Feature Race10.50am: Porsche Supercup12.30pm: Austrian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*2pm: THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*4pm: Austrian GP reaction: Chequered Flag5pm: Ted's Notebook

*Also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1's European season continues with the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime