First Free Practice Report & Results 2025 Austrian F1 Grand Prix

Event: Austrian F1 GP
Track: Red Bull Ring

Weather: dry 24°C
Tarmac: dry  38°C
Humidity: 52%
Wind: 1.8 km/h South-East
Pressure: 944 mb

Russell Rockets to the Top in Eventful FP1 at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix

The first practice session for the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix delivered drama, surprises, and standout rookie performances under the picturesque Styrian sunshine. As the mountains watched on, it was George Russell who stamped his authority early in the weekend, topping the timesheets and putting Mercedes in the spotlight at Red Bull’s home turf.

Let’s break down all the action from an entertaining first hour at the Red Bull Ring.

☀️ Sunny Skies, New Upgrades & Rookie Action

With 24°C ambient temperatures and track temps soaring into the 40s, the Austrian Grand Prix weekend got underway under perfect conditions — at least, for now. Thunderstorms are rumored to roll in later, but Friday morning started smooth and dry.

The session began with two notable absentees: Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc. McLaren and Ferrari opted to fulfill their rookie driver requirements, placing Alex Dunne and Dino Beganovic in their cars respectively. That meant the pressure to gather meaningful data fell squarely on the shoulders of Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton’s Ferrari sported a brand-new floor upgrade for testing, while Dunne’s McLaren featured large aero rakes to validate front suspension tweaks. Red Bull also introduced floor updates, while Mercedes focused on upgraded cooling systems to cope with high track temperatures — a known Achilles heel in hotter conditions.

🧊 Mercedes on Fire (Figuratively), Ferrari in Trouble (Literally)

George Russell wasted no time setting the benchmark, clocking a 1m05.542s lap — just a second off last year’s pole time. His performance looked particularly impressive given he ran both hard and soft tyres, while many of his rivals waited longer to do their quick laps.

His rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli had a scruffy session but still ended up a respectable 11th. Mercedes’ decision to bring cooling tweaks to Austria may be paying off already — especially since they’re aiming to prove their recent Canadian win was no fluke.

Ferrari, meanwhile, found themselves in disarray. Beganovic's car was stripped down due to a floor issue, and Hamilton’s early laps were compromised by gearbox concerns. With limited soft tyre runs and data, the red team heads into FP2 with question marks hanging over their form.

🧼 Rookie Dunne Impresses, Laughs in the McLaren Camp

Alex Dunne stole the show midway through FP1. The F2 championship leader slotted into an incredible fourth place, just 0.2s behind Russell and right behind Piastri. If that was a soft-tyre run with a little less fuel, it still counts as a powerful statement of talent — and a data goldmine for McLaren.

Back on the pit wall, Norris took the rookie swap in stride, watching on from beside team boss Andrea Stella. That is, until Stella clumsily spilled his water all over his driver. The pair laughed it off — a clear sign that the atmosphere within the papaya team remains ice cool despite the pressure of a title fight.

🏎️ Red Bull Steady, Verstappen's “Weird” Car & a New Voice

Max Verstappen looked strong in front of the home fans, finishing just 0.065s off Russell and with very little drama — apart from calling his RB21 “weird” after a lock-up into Turn 1. Worth noting: this weekend he’s working with Simon Rennie on the radio, as regular engineer Gianpiero Lambiase enjoys a rare weekend off.

Red Bull’s pace looked solid, especially as Verstappen and Piastri swapped second and third places throughout the mid-session soft tyre runs. Track conditions improved as cloud cover rolled in and times dropped, but a few scattered raindrops at Turn 3 added spice late on.

🔄 Spins, Lock-ups & Spicy Moments

This wouldn't be an FP1 without some mistakes:

• Fernando Alonso spun out of the final corner as he attempted a push lap on softs, earning a sarcastic “that was the worst out-lap we could do” on the radio.

• Esteban Ocon flat-spotted his tyres with a big lock-up into Turn 1 and finished P18.

• Yuki Tsunoda struggled with brake balance and voiced frustration over his “very poor” stopping power.

• Verstappen and others had off-track moments early on as grip levels were still building.

The late portion of the session saw drivers switch back to medium and hard tyres for heavier fuel runs, collecting valuable long-run data ahead of Sunday’s 71-lap race.

📉 Haas Slump, Alpine Anonymous

Haas ended the session with both drivers at the very bottom of the timesheets in P19 and P20, a disappointing showing for a team that usually performs well here. Alpine didn't fare much better, with Gasly briefly flirting with the top five before being shuffled back.

⏭️ What’s Next?

FP2 kicks off at 17:00 local time, with both Norris and Leclerc returning to the cockpit — and likely with itchy throttle feet after sitting out FP1. With clouds building over the Styrian hills, there’s a chance of rain, but nothing dramatic is expected… yet.

The real question? Can anyone catch George Russell, or are Mercedes about to own Friday in Austria?

FP1 Times Table 2025 Austrian GP

The quickest sector times driven during this FP1 were:

1. 16.627 sec. by Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull RB21.
2. 29.005 sec. by George Russell, Mercedes W16.
3. 19.787 sec. by Max Verstappen, Red Bull RB21.

Last year the quickest lap time in FP1 was a 1:05.685 min set by Verstappen with the RB20.

✅ Check out our 2025 Austrian F1 Grand Prix preview.

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