Austrian Grand Prix Practice One: Russell Tops Timesheet, Verstappen Struggles with Understeer
Spielberg, Austria – George Russell delivered a strong performance in the opening practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix, securing the top spot with a blistering lap time of 1:05.542, narrowly edging out reigning champion Max Verstappen by 0.065 seconds.
Russell established his leading time early in the session using hard tires before further improving his position on softs. In contrast, Verstappen experienced early difficulties with his Red Bull, reporting “weird” understeer and suffering from a significant lock-up at Turn 1 during his initial stint on medium tires.
Formula 1 rookie Alex Dunne, stepping in for Lando Norris at McLaren, demonstrated impressive pace, finishing the session just 0.069 seconds behind teammate Oscar Piastri. Dunne, the current Formula 2 title leader, utilized aero rakes to test new components and showcased his speed by climbing the order with a strong late lap on soft tires.
Pierre Gasly of Alpine secured fifth position, setting a time 0.234 seconds off the pace, while Williams drivers Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto followed closely, as did Carlos Sainz of Ferrari, who logged his best time on medium tires.
Lewis Hamilton encountered a disrupted session, completing only 20 laps after being called back to the garage due to a gearbox issue. He ultimately finished 0.557 seconds off the top time after a late run on soft tires, the fewest laps of any driver.
Isack Hadjar completed the top ten in his Racing Bulls entry, while notable performances also came from Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Nico Hulkenberg, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who survived a spin at the final corner during his run.
Ferrari’s Dino Beganovic, driving in place of Charles Leclerc, focused on a testing program and finished 0.827 seconds off the pace, wrapping up a session characterized by a mix of competitive times and technical evaluations by multiple teams.
The results from the first practice session lay the groundwork for an exciting race weekend ahead, with teams now analyzing data and strategizing for optimal performance in subsequent sessions.
