Antonelli tops FP2, making it a perfect Friday in Austria
- Jason Sharp
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Written by Jason Sharp
After a mechanical issue saw him retire in Barcelona, championship leader Kimi Antonelli made it a perfect Friday by topping FP2 at the roasting Red Bull Ring, just as he did in FP1.
The 19 year old finished 0.237 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. McLaren look comfortably quick as last years’ winner Lando Norris was just behind in P3, despite a spin from carrying too much speed into Turn 3.
Four-time Austrian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen was P4 in a difficult Friday for Red Bull at their own venue. Both Verstappen and Isack Hadjar struggled in the low-speed, cambered Turn 3, while Verstappen also reported an unusual issue regarding his seating position in the car.
Fresh off his first win for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton finished P5 ahead of an uncomfortable George Russell who could only muster P6 in his Mercedes. The pair sit P2 and P3 in the championship standings respectively.
The second Red Bull of Hadjar was P7 ahead of Charles Leclerc in P8, and both Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto snuck into the top ten. Both Audi and the Racing Bulls look like strong contenders for points this weekend.
Despite bringing upgrades, the same cannot be said for Cadillac, who had their worst Friday of the season. Sergio Perez stopped at Turn 6 in the early stages which brought out the VSC. The Mexican reported on the radio that it was the same issue as FP1.
Valtteri Bottas did not fare much better due to a suspected front suspension issue that halted his running and filled the pitlane with the smell of burning carbon fibre.
Looking ahead
Antonelli has set the pace, and Mercedes have secured pole position at every Grand Prix this season, but round 8 in the Styrian mountains is all but straight forward.
The talk of the paddock is that Ferrari have brought an engine upgrade this weekend, but we will not see it until FP3 as teams use old engines on Fridays. This could make a huge difference to the car that already has the strongest chassis, making for an almighty fight for pole and the win.
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