Austrian GP: P1 Russell question mark as Lewis Hamilton looms after FP3

Kimi Antonelli thought he had done enough to make it a clean sweep of practice P1s, but George Russell struck late in FP3 at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton emerged as the closest challenger to Mercedes, sitting just a tenth back going into what looks set to be a thrilling qualifying. Hamilton did, though, request a Ferrari gearbox check after a late FP3 off. Antonelli’s inability to nail a final lap on fresh softs, leaves question marks over the true pecking order of the Mercedes drivers.

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Kimi Antonelli set the pace across Friday practice. The championship leader went into FP3 looking to rubber-stamp that authority ahead of qualifying.

There were many pair of eyes on the upgraded Red Bull RB22 after a disrupted Friday for Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. Meanwhile, Ferrari had not yet been dazzling to the extent of Barcelona, where Lewis Hamilton ended Mercedes’ 100 per cent winning record in F1 2026.

It was little surprise to see Cadillac first out on track. The MAC-26s are sporting a 10-part upgrade in Austria, where Sergio Perez suffered recurring ECU issues, and Valtteri Bottas, a burning floor on Friday.

Perez looked to quickly make up for lost time. He had the track to himself, as the other 21 drivers chilled in the garage. Perez’s 1:11.437 was the time to chase once any challengers opted to emerge.

This slowly happened, as Franco Colapinto took over out front by 1.1 seconds, soon to be pipped by Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi. Hadjar, running his Red Bull on hard tyres, soon found half a second on Hulkenberg. The pace was up to a 1:09.230.

Hadjar was feeling a “pretty nice” balance in the car.

As the session ticked past the one-quarter mark, the action was starting to heat up.

Lando Norris was downbeat about McLaren’s pace going into the Austria race weekend, but his 1:07.832 on the softs was a decent opening effort. Lewis Hamilton, who slotted into second, was three and a half tenths back.

Norris was quickly back in the garage for a left mirror repair, as Oscar Piastri made it a brief McLaren one-two. A trio of purple sectors put Antonelli P1 by three tenths.

Verstappen was suffering from strange “interference” in his earphones, but still delivered a P2 lap time as he joined the action.

Carlos Sainz was kicking up dust as a snap sent him wide through the final sequence of corners.

The gaps were closing out front. A top six of Antonelli, Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Verstappen, Hamilton and Norris was now covered by three-tenths.

Russell was complaining of “really bad straight-line braking on the front axle.” Norris was heading wide at T3. He quickly shook that off and improved to third next time around.

That top six order continued to evolve as the laps were pumped in. The constant was Antonelli setting the pace. He found another four tenths. T9 was catching Sainz out again. Fernando Alonso could not turn the Aston Martin, as he claimed a problem at the front of the AMR26.

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With 20 minutes to go in FP3 we had another brief lull in the action. More flying laps were brewing.

Antonelli set a purple final sector, but did not improve overall on that new set of softs. Norris and Hamilton were on a charge.

P2 for Norris, soon to be replaced by Hamilton, who was now within a tenth of Antonelli, his championship rival. Russell went P3.

Verstappen was still suffering with radio interference. Leclerc’s right mirror was broken.

It looked as though Antonelli would close out FP3 in top spot, only for Russell to clock a 1:07.096 on the softs in the closing moments. Antonelli and Hamilton were also out there, but neither could improve to respond.

Hamilton asked for a gearbox check after anti-stall sent him off at T3.

Russell topped FP3 in an important statement before qualifying.

Full Austrian GP FP3 timesheet

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:07.096
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.038
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.115
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.248
5 Lando Norris McLaren +0.264
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.273
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.356
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing +0.816
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.935
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls +1.013
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.097
12 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +1.207
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +1.215
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1.298
15 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +1.433
16 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +1.611
17 Carlos Sainz Williams +1.747
18 Alexander Albon Williams +1.896
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac +2.436
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac +2.644
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +3.325
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +3.471

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