Kimi Antonelli put down a marker on Friday, leading the way in Free Practice 2 at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Italian clocked a scorching 1:07.014 to complete a dominant Friday double at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Yankee Scores reports.
It was the first time Antonelli had led the way in FP2 all season. It was also the first time any driver had completed the Friday double in 2026.
Kimi Antonelli keeps up the momentum by topping the timesheets in FP2 😮💨
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris round out the top three 👀#F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/WRDHQK7vEH
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 26, 2026
The Mercedes teenager leads the championship heading into Round 8. He was comfortable on both short and long run programmes.
Closest was Oscar Piastri, just over two-tenths back in second. Lando Norris completed a strong McLaren recovery in third, 0.325s off Antonelli. The papaya camp produced a much better showing after Norris lost most of FP1 to a suspected hydraulics problem.
Max Verstappen finished fourth despite a problem with his seat during the session. Lewis Hamilton was fifth, while George Russell — within 0.040s of Antonelli in FP1 — dropped to sixth after a messy soft tyre lap.
Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari SF-26 returned after handing the car to academy driver Dino Beganovic in FP1. He could only manage eighth, 0.841s off the pace.
It was another difficult afternoon for Cadillac. Sergio Perez was out after just two laps at Turn 6, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car. It mirrored the ECU issue that ended his FP1 early. Valtteri Bottas then compounded the team’s misery, reporting smoke in the cockpit before limping back to the pits. His crew had to extinguish a fire on the floor of the car. Neither driver managed a clean run on the soft tyre.
Free Practice 3 is scheduled for 12:30 local time on Saturday, with qualifying to follow at 15:00.
