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McLaren led the way in the opening practice sessions again but Max Verstappen’s hopes of a sixth consecutive pole position at his team’s home track are far from over.
Teams’ 2024 performance in context
Last year’s Austrian Grand Prix is remembered chiefly for the controversial clash between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. However until the final stint Red Bull appeared to have a clear performance edge over McLaren.
Verstappen’s best time of the weekend was four tenths of a second quicker than Norris’s, which translates to an advantage of over 0.6% over such a short lap. Norris got within range at the end of the race thanks to McLaren’s strategy plus a slow pit stop for Verstappen.
Teams’ progress vs 2024
A significant change from this year compared to last year is that the teams have a full complement of three practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring for the first time since 2021, as this is no longer a sprint event. Over the two hours of practice on Friday, three teams have already beaten their best lap times from last year.
They include McLaren. Red Bull, however, are further off their 2024 pace than any team so far. This pattern has been observed at several rounds this year: Max Verstappen tends to improve his pace much more than his team mate from Friday to Saturday, and McLaren expect to see the same tomorrow.
Aston Martin have gained the most time since last year, so far. This was a particularly poor round for them last year, but Lance Stroll also put in a surprisingly quick lap time on Friday.
Teams’ 2024 and 2025 times
As the Red Bull Ring typically sees the shortest lap times of the year, qualifying is set to be especially close. Just three tenths of a second covered the back half of the grid in practice.
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First and second practice times
| P. | # | Driver | Team | FP1 time | FP2 time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’04.580 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’05.697 | 1’04.737 | 0.157 | 33 |
| 3 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’05.607 | 1’04.898 | 0.318 | 30 |
| 4 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’06.160 | 1’05.022 | 0.442 | 32 |
| 5 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’05.190 | 0.610 | 0 | |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’05.542 | 1’05.229 | 0.649 | 34 |
| 7 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’06.262 | 1’05.292 | 0.712 | 30 |
| 8 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’05.874 | 1’05.411 | 0.831 | 35 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’06.170 | 1’05.457 | 0.877 | 32 |
| 10 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1’06.099 | 1’05.511 | 0.931 | 20 |
| 11 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1’06.130 | 1’05.537 | 0.957 | 35 |
| 12 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 1’06.189 | 1’05.543 | 0.963 | 34 |
| 13 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 1’06.110 | 1’05.547 | 0.967 | 33 |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1’05.780 | 1’05.613 | 1.033 | 34 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | 1’06.510 | 1’05.698 | 1.118 | 32 |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 1’05.946 | 1’05.765 | 1.185 | 35 |
| 17 | 89 | Alex Dunne | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’05.766 | 1.186 | 29 | |
| 18 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | 1’06.017 | 1’05.814 | 1.234 | 33 |
| 19 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | 1’06.738 | 1’05.835 | 1.255 | 30 |
| 20 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’06.140 | 1’05.918 | 1.338 | 32 |
| 21 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Renault | 1’06.246 | 1’06.176 | 1.596 | 34 |
| 22 | 38 | Dino Beganovic | Ferrari | 1’06.369 | 1.789 | 32 |
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