Norris maintains upper hand on Piastri in Austrian GP practice
The Briton, who is seeking to erase memories of his nightmare in Montreal where he collided with the championship leading Piastri, clocked a best lap of one minute and 4.324 seconds.
Piastri was 0.118 seconds off the pace.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.
"In these temperatures, the McLarens at high speed are going to be very difficult to match," admitted Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Wolff again confirmed interest in Verstappen, but added Russell, victorious in Canada two weeks ago, had been "splendid" and "has done a great job this year."
Norris, fastest on Friday, was soon in command with a 1min 5.412sec lap and by the midway mark he had trimmed that to 1min 4.888sec with Hamilton second, three-tenths adrift.
Russell, seen by many as vulnerable at Mercedes if Verstappen arrived, was third ahead of Piastri.
With 20 minutes remaining, Piastri pushed with too much speed into Turn Nine and swept through the gravel, a moment that required a visit to the pits.
Verstappen -- whose 'orange army' of supporters boosted the size of the crowd -- also pitted with his car's floor receiving attention.
He was 11th on the time-screens as Norris improved his best lap to 1:04.324, a five-tenths cut to go seven-tenths clear.
With 10 minutes to go, Piastri found the pace to go second, 0.118 behind Norris before Verstappen went third ousting Leclerc to fourth ahead of Hamilton.
© 2025 AFP
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France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Norris maintains upper hand on Piastri in Austrian GP practice
The Briton, who is seeking to erase memories of his nightmare in Montreal where he collided with the championship leading Piastri, clocked a best lap of one minute and 4.324 seconds. Piastri was 0.118 seconds off the pace. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. "In these temperatures, the McLarens at high speed are going to be very difficult to match," admitted Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. Wolff again confirmed interest in Verstappen, but added Russell, victorious in Canada two weeks ago, had been "splendid" and "has done a great job this year." Norris, fastest on Friday, was soon in command with a 1min 5.412sec lap and by the midway mark he had trimmed that to 1min 4.888sec with Hamilton second, three-tenths adrift. Russell, seen by many as vulnerable at Mercedes if Verstappen arrived, was third ahead of Piastri. With 20 minutes remaining, Piastri pushed with too much speed into Turn Nine and swept through the gravel, a moment that required a visit to the pits. Verstappen -- whose 'orange army' of supporters boosted the size of the crowd -- also pitted with his car's floor receiving attention. He was 11th on the time-screens as Norris improved his best lap to 1:04.324, a five-tenths cut to go seven-tenths clear. With 10 minutes to go, Piastri found the pace to go second, 0.118 behind Norris before Verstappen went third ousting Leclerc to fourth ahead of Hamilton. © 2025 AFP
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Hamilton given formal warning as difficult Ferrari start continues
The seven-time champion was alleged to have impeded his successor at Mercedes, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, at turn four of the fast and technical Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps. Hamilton apologised immediately and explained that he had not seen Antonelli approaching behind him as he descended over the crest of a hill on a slow lap and drifted into the racing line. Hamilton raised his hand to signal his apology to Antonelli as he passed him. After speaking to Hamilton, the stewards decided to give the Briton a formal warning -- the usual sanction for such a misdemeanour in practice. It is the third time this season that Hamilton has been warned. "The driver of car 44 (Hamilton), although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about car 12 (Antonelli) closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to turn four and thereby unnecessarily impeded car 12 which had to take evasive action," said the stewards in a statement. Hamilton was given a three-place grid drop at the Monaco Grand Prix where he impeded four-time champion Max Verstappen in qualifying when his race engineer Riccardo Adami wrongly informed him that the Dutchman was not on a flying lap. Hamilton struggled with gearbox problems on Friday as he evaluated a new floor design on his Ferrari car.
France 24
a day ago
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Russell tops opening practice in Austria
The 27-year-old Briton clocked a best lap in one minute and 5.542 seconds to outpace his Dutch rival by 0.065 seconds ahead of McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri and his temporary team-mate, reserve driver Alex Dunne, who delivered an impressive debut. The Irishman settled into the session and ramped up his speed in the closing stages to finish only 0.09 seconds adrift of Piastri in the car usually driven by Lando Norris. Pierre Gasly was fifth for Alpine ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber, Williams' Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari, who endured a troubled session. RB rookie Isack Hadjar was 10th ahead of fellow-rookie Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes. Russell was the winner of last year's race in the Styrian Alps and won the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, giving him momentum for this weekend. Dunne is Ireland's first F1 driver since Ralph Firman in 2003. Dino Beganovic made his second appearance of the season as reserve stepping in for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, alongside Hamilton. He wound up 18th. Most teams introduced a range of upgrades, including a new floor for Ferrari, while Red Bull had a change of personnel in Verstappen's group, the vastly-experieced Simon Rennie stepping in for Gianpiero Lambiasse, who had taken a weekend off. By midway through the session, Russell had switched to softs and continued to set the pace as Ferrari were struggling again with both cars in the pits with problems. Hamilton who had complained of gearbox issues was only 18th and Beganovic 19th ahead of Dunne, who was familiarizing himself with the demands of F1. In a largely serene session, the first incident came with a spin for Fernando Alonso when he pushed on his first lap on softs at Turn 10. "That was the worst out-lap we can do," said the Aston Martin driver.
