Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli dominated the opening session of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, setting a blisteringly fast benchmark while his main rivals spent the morning trapped in the pit lane. The Italian championship leader clocked a 1m 07.796s lap to edge out teammate George Russell, securing the top spot in a chaotic Free Practice 1 session defined by severe mechanical failures across the grid.
Key Details
- Lando Norris missed 45 minutes of running due to a hydraulic leak on his McLaren MCL40.
- Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was stranded twice by anti-stall software glitches.
- Sergio Pérez triggered a late red flag after his Cadillac stopped on track at Turn 3.
- The FIA initiated live testing of new rear light colors to indicate battery deployment modes.
While the Mercedes garage celebrated a flawless 1-2 sweep at the top of the timing sheets, chaos consumed the rest of the paddock. McLaren and Red Bull faced immediate technical crises that derailed their respective run plans. Oscar Piastri managed to drag his McLaren into third place, finishing just 0.117s off the pace, but repeatedly complained over the radio about inconsistent brake pedal travel.
His teammate, Lando Norris, barely saw the track. A severe hydraulic leak on the MCL40 sidelined the defending world champion for the first 45 minutes of the session, restricting him to a mere nine exploratory laps.
Red Bull endured a similarly disastrous morning on home soil. Max Verstappen finished fourth but was forced out of the pit lane twice as his car triggered aggressive anti-stall fail-safes. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies officially confirmed the disruptions were caused by software glitches rather than mechanical component failures.
The garage on the other side was in even worse shape, as Isack Hadjar sat out the opening half-hour entirely while mechanics investigated a sudden engine anomaly, leaving him stuck down in 12th place.
Lewis Hamilton brought his Ferrari home in fifth, trailing Antonelli by 0.665s. The session was ultimately brought to a premature halt when Sergio Pérez parked his Cadillac on the inside of Turn 3, ending the practice slightly early.
Away from the stopwatch, the FIA utilized the Austrian circuit to continue a regulatory experiment from the Canada and Barcelona rounds, mandating new rear light colors on the cars to signal different battery deployment modes to trailing drivers.