Antonelli leads Piastri and Norris in Austrian Grand Prix second practice

By Aditya Rao — 26 June 2026 — 6 min read

Kimi Antonelli secured the fastest time during the second practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday afternoon. The driver demonstrated a notable advantage over the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the Red Bull Ring circuit.

Following the championship leader’s performance in the initial practice session, drivers returned to the track for Free Practice 2. The session began at 17:00 local time, with slightly cooler temperatures anticipated at the Spielberg circuit. Among those participating were six drivers who had ceded their seats to rookies in FP1, including Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc, who made way for academy driver Dino Beganovic as the team focused on optimising their latest power unit upgrade.

The Audi pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto were among the first to commence their laps. However, Hulkenberg was compelled to abandon his flying lap almost immediately after driving wide, indicating that the braking issues experienced by many earlier in the day persisted.

Drivers who maintained track limits quickly recorded their lap times. McLaren‘s Norris initially set the pace on medium compound tyres, achieving a time of 1m 08.000s, slightly ahead of his teammate. Further down the order, there was anticipation that Sergio Perez had resolved the issue that prematurely ended his FP1, especially after his team replaced the ECU (Engine Control Unit) during the break. However, he came to a halt at Turn 6, necessitating a Virtual Safety Car.

This incident posed challenges for Cadillac‘s plans to test their significant upgrade package. Conversely, it provided a timely pause for Max Verstappen, who had expressed discomfort with his seat and used the brief break to have it adjusted.

Upon the resumption of the session, George Russell‘s initial attempt placed him in fourth position, as Mercedes drivers found it challenging to surpass Norris‘ benchmark. Norris himself encountered difficulties, spinning and briefly entering a run-off area while pushing for an improved lap time.

Antonelli soon regained the top spot, becoming the first driver to break into the 1m 07s range, thereby improving his fastest time from FP1. Leclerc also showed improvement, moving up to P5, ahead of Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari, and Isack Hadjar.

Approaching the halfway point, Cadillac‘s difficulties continued, with Valtteri Bottas reporting smoke in the cockpit before returning to the pits. The team promptly extinguished a fire on the floor of his car, concluding a challenging day for the American outfit.

Soft Tyre Runs and Final Standings

The subsequent crucial soft tyre runs saw McLaren continue to perform strongly, with Oscar Piastri momentarily posting the fastest lap. However, Antonelli once again surged ahead, topping the timesheets by a narrow margin of a few hundredths of a second.

Ultimately, Antonelli maintained his lead, further reducing his time to conclude Friday’s running at the top. His best effort was 1m 07.014s, a time no other driver could match. Piastri came closest, finishing approximately two-tenths behind, while Norris secured P3, indicating a strong FP2 for McLaren at the Red Bull Ring.

Verstappen experienced a less straightforward session but finished fourth, ahead of Hamilton, Russell, and Hadjar. The top 10 was completed by Leclerc, who was 0.841s off the pace, followed by Racing Bulls‘ Liam Lawson and Audi‘s Bortoleto.

Pierre Gasly narrowly missed the top 10, finishing P11, followed by Arvid Lindblad, Ollie Bearman, Hulkenberg, and the second Haas of Esteban Ocon. Franco Colapinto was half a second behind his Alpine teammate’s time in P16, leading the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, and Aston Martin‘s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Cadillac finished at the bottom of the leaderboard, as neither Bottas nor Perez could rejoin the session after their respective car issues. This leaves the team with considerable work before the final practice session.

Team Performances and Challenges

Mercedes‘ Kimi Antonelli led McLaren‘s Oscar Piastri in Friday practice. Antonelli, who holds a 41-point lead over Ferrari‘s Lewis Hamilton in the world championship, was 0.237 seconds ahead of Piastri. The second McLaren of Lando Norris was third fastest, ahead of Red Bull‘s Max Verstappen, with Hamilton in fifth and the second Mercedes of George Russell in sixth position.

McLaren also demonstrated competitive race pace, with Norris matching Mercedes for the best pace during the long runs later in the session. Russell, the sole Mercedes driver to speak to the media on Friday, noted the surprise of McLaren‘s initial lap in FP2 and their strong race pace, particularly on Norris‘ side, which appeared superior to Mercedes‘.

Norris missed most of the first session due to a hydraulic leak, but Piastri concluded it in third place, just 0.117 seconds behind Antonelli‘s fastest time. However, Piastri suggested that Antonelli likely possessed more untapped potential than indicated by the headline times, as his fastest lap in the second session was achieved on his second attempt with soft tyres, when they would have been past their optimal performance.

Piastri commented that McLaren was a step behind Mercedes, or at least Kimi, which was anticipated. He found Kimi‘s time on his second soft tyre lap quite impressive. McLaren technical director Neil Houldey also stated that Mercedes, especially Kimi, would be very challenging to overcome.

Ferrari has introduced an engine upgrade for this weekend, hoping to reduce their power deficit to Mercedes. This follows the aerodynamic developments implemented in Barcelona two weeks prior, where Hamilton secured his first victory for the team. However, they had a subdued day, not yet displaying the pace that led to Hamilton‘s win. Hamilton was 0.597 seconds off the pace, and teammate Charles Leclerc was a further 0.244 seconds behind in eighth place, trailing the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.

Mercedes suspected Ferrari was running their new engine conservatively and would be competitive in qualifying. However, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur downplayed the immediate impact of the upgrade, noting its introduction only two weeks after the FIA confirmed the team’s eligibility to change the engine under the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) programme.

Vasseur described Friday as a tough day, with struggles due to conditions, altitude, and temperature, though acknowledging these factors affected all teams. He expressed confidence in making corrections overnight for a better performance on Saturday, stating that the team was far from its potential. He also clarified that while it is a new engine, it does not represent a significant step forward, as the ADUO programme was known only two weeks prior.

Russell lacked pace over a single lap, being 0.623 seconds behind teammate Antonelli, but demonstrated strong pace in race-simulation runs. Red Bull has introduced a major upgrade this weekend, with Verstappen being 0.55 seconds off the pace. Both he and teammate Hadjar reported a lack of grip. Hadjar noted that the car did not feel completely different but still required work to catch up, particularly with grip issues that were unexpected in a speed range where they typically perform well.

At the back of the grid, Cadillac continued to face difficulties, with Sergio Perez stopping early in both sessions due to electronics problems. Teammate Valtteri Bottas had to abandon the session halfway through due to sparks emanating from the underside of his car. The teams and drivers will review their data before Free Practice 3 commences on Saturday at 12:30 local time, ahead of Qualifying later in the day at 15:00.

Many learnings were gathered from the first day of track action, and teams are now preparing for the next stages of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

Source: formula1.com