The leader and Russell, in 40 thousandths; Verstappen starts close with his new Red Bull although with some problems
There is still a lot left and it is too early to draw conclusions, but to begin with, in the first free practice sessions of the F1 Austrian GP 2026the equality, at least between the two Mercerdes, was enormous.
Kimi Antonellithe leader of the F1 World Championship, began leading the session in a very tight time table. Your partner in Mercedes, George Russellwas only 40 thousandths behind the Italian. And Oscar Piastri finished in third position, just 0″177 with his McLaren. And behind them, the great idol of the local team, Max Verstappenwhich in Red Bull run as if you were at home. The Dutchman started riding with a completely renewed RB22 after the great evolution presented by the set of Milton Keynes on his track, the Red Bull Ring.
The energy drinks team wants to show Max a great improvement on the track and that they can really give him a car to win in the short term in order to convince the four-time champion to continue with them in 2027.
Laurent Mekies, head of Red Bullhe already said in Barcelona that more improvements would be needed to combat mercedesbut Austria’s evolution had to be an important step forward. And for now, Max Verstappen He started in 4th place at 0″281, waiting to still have to optimize those parts and find the perfect settings to get the most out of it. Of course, we will have to wait to see if his Red Bull manages to maintain the level when the rest of the top teams raise the bar until they reach the classification.
What they should ensure in Red Bull is that the setbacks he had are not repeated Max in this session. He stalled in pit lane twice, although the team was able to fix the car and allow Max to return to the asphalt.
Norris, problems
It wasn’t up there Norrisgreatly affected by this session due to McLaren’s umpteenth problem. This time, a hydraulic setback left him almost unable to roll. He went out on the track in the final part and had time to set the 7th best time, one second behind, surpassed by Lindblad (6th at 0″9) and Lewis Hamilton (5th).
Ferrari, hidden
Much was expected from the start of the Ferraris after their great performance in Barcelona with the step forward they took with their new aerodynamic package. in Austriathose in red presented their first engine evolution of the year (of the two that they can present through the ADUO concessions system) and for now, Hamilton was 5th at 0″665. However, the Englishman made a huge jump from Friday to Saturday in Barcelona and it is too early to draw conclusions. For his part, Leclerc did not roll because his steering wheel went to Beganovic in this FP1, finishing 9th, 1″2 behind a good Colapinto (8º to 1″1).
Thus, RB and Alpine once again showed themselves strong in the fight for points and to lead the middle zone, with Bearman’s Haas closing the Top-10.
Tough for WIlliams; Aston Martin, red lantern
It looks like a difficult weekend to aim for points for Williams after Albon was 16th, 1.8 off the best and 6 tenths off the Top-10. Sainz did not ride in FP1 because he took his place Browining (18th) and he will do so in FP2, aware that the performance of his car, without aerodynamic evolutions on this track, should be similar to that of Barcelona. The points seem difficult, although it is difficult to make pools for Sunday due to the problems that the engines could have in such a demanding circuit for the engine (at 700 meters above sea level).
For its part, Aston Martin continues in the last positions, something that is not new because the first and great evolutionary package that has to change its season will not reach Spa or Zandvoortin some races. Until then, this is the reality of the green car, with which Alonso was last (22nd, 3.5 off the best) in FP1 in Austria in a pure test session, without seeking a great time, focusing his program on improving the drivability and downshifting problems of his car.
