Hamilton suffer setback in Austrian GP as Russell take…read more
The opening session of the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix delivered early drama and disappointment for Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton suffering from technical issues that disrupted his performance. George Russell, meanwhile, got off to a flying start by setting the fastest time in FP1 at the Red Bull Ring.
Hamilton’s practice was hampered by a gearbox problem that forced Ferrari mechanics to swarm around his car midway through the session. On the other side of the garage, things weren’t any better. Ferrari Academy driver Dino Beganovic, standing in for Charles Leclerc, also faced setbacks as his car’s floor was removed, robbing him of valuable track time. Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz called it “double trouble” for the team, which recently introduced a new floor upgrade in hopes of reviving their season.
Though both drivers managed to return to the track, rain had begun to fall, limiting their ability to push for fast laps. Hamilton ended the session ninth, while Beganovic finished down in 18th—an underwhelming result given the team’s recent development push and rising pressure on team boss Fred Vasseur.
At the top of the timesheets, George Russell delivered a strong showing for Mercedes, posting a best time of 1:05.542. Max Verstappen, supported by a sea of Dutch fans in Austria, was close behind in second, just 0.065 seconds off Russell’s pace. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who currently leads the Drivers’ Championship, continued his fine form with a third-place finish.
The standout moment of the session came from F2 star Alex Dunne, who made his Formula 1 debut by replacing Lando Norris at McLaren. The young Irishman impressed everyone by securing fourth on the leaderboard, just behind Piastri. His performance marked the first time in 22 years that an Irish driver featured in an F1 weekend.
The rest of the top 10 included Pierre Gasly in fifth for Alpine, Gabriel Bortoleto in sixth for Kick Sauber, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz in seventh and eighth for Williams, and rookie Isack Hadjar rounding out the group in tenth.
Fernando Alonso brought some brief drama after spinning his Aston Martin, though he quickly recovered to finish 14th. The rest of the field managed to stay clear of major incidents.
Practice continues with FP2 scheduled for later on Friday, June 27, at 5:00pm CEST (4:00pm BST). FP3 will follow on Saturday ahead of qualifying, as teams look to fine-tune their setups in a weekend already filled with unpredictable moment
