FP1 at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP has been completed, view the full session report here as round 8 gets underway.
Ryō Hirakawa, Ayumu Iwasa, Jak Crawford, Luke Browning, Paul Aron and Dino Beganovic all got FP1 opportunities thanks to the mandated rookie running.
Kimi Antonelli headed into the weekend 41 points clear of Lewis Hamilton, with George Russell a further nine back. Charles Leclerc is two points ahead of Lando Norris in the battle for 4th.
Red Bull brought a significant amount of upgrades as they looked to get Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar closer to the top two.
At the back, Cadillac brought updates as they looked to close the gap to the midfield runners.
Green flag but issues for multiple drivers at the start of FP1 at F1 Austrian GP
Even before the session began, Lando Norris (hydraulic leak) and Isack Hadjar’s (engine change) cars were up on stands, leaving them stuck in the garage. Max Verstappen then stopped in pit lane as he complained about anti-stall when releasing the clutch. They tried again a few minutes later but went nowhere and stopped in the pits once more.
In the early stages, a 1:09.119 from Kimi Antonelli saw him lead George Russell by 0.042s; they were on both on mediums. Lindblad, Hülkenberg, Bearman and Colapinto completed the top 6 just over 10 minutes in. The Racing Bulls driver in P3 was over a second off.
Car #63 responded on the next runs, clocking a 1:08.898 to outpace his teammate by 0.103s. The gap to P3? 1.527s at that stage.
Verstappen hits the track
Max Verstappen finally got going 20 minutes into the session, with the soft tyres fitted. His first lap immediately put him 3rd.
At the front, car #12 returned to P1 on a 1:08.448, 0.292s faster than his teammate. Verstappen, Piastri, Beganovic and Hamilton completed the top 6 as the 25-minute mark approached.
Meanwhile at Cadillac, Sergio Pérez sustained bodywork damage and had to return to the pits. Once he hit the track, he slowed out of turn 4 as the ignition had seemingly gone, until it returned.
Mercedes switch to softs as Hadjar and Norris appear on circuit in FP1 at 2026 F1 Austrian GP
Kimi Antonelli logged a 1:07.796 to go 0.119s quicker than George Russell. That put them a second clear of Max Verstappen. The Brit did go again, finishing up 0.040s slower than the Italian in FP1 at the 2026 F1 Austrian GP.
Isack Hadjar finally hit with the track with just over 25 minutes to go. Lando Norris also joined 11 minutes later. Nonetheless, both lost solid chunks of time.
After brake feeling complaints earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri did a strong lap on softs, finishing up 0.117s slower than the championship leader to take 3rd. Max Verstappen also did a good lap, 0.281s away from P1.
Lewis Hamilton was P5, a full 0.665s away from the top. Ferrari teammate for FP1 Dino Beganovic was the quickest rookie, 0.593s slower than the seven-time World Champion.
Also extremely impressive was Jak Crawford as he outpaced Fernando Alonso by 0.131s. However, both were over 3s slower than the top 4.
Red flag to end the session
It was third time unlucky for Sergio Pérez as his car completely conked out on the run to the uphill turn 3, bringing the session to the end a minute early.
