McLaren takes the reins of Formula 1 in Austria, but they are not alone. Verstappen is a threat.
A McLaren found on the track among the Austrian hills a good place to regain control of the championship, after the intense round of Canada , two weeks ago, marked by the accident between Lando Norris e Oscar Piastri e pelo ungrateful record of having been out of the podium for the first time this season This time, the terrain seems to have features more suitable for victory, even though the scenario is heading towards a new confrontation between your pair of pilots. Norris led the second session on Friday (27th), with a 0.157 lead over his teammate and 2025 F1 championship leader. . The only problem is that Max Verstappen It is also in a favorable environment and one it enjoys. Therefore, the orange team reassumes the favorite status, but still has the tetra-champion as an element of greater concern.
In technical terms, the squad led by Andrea Stella , indeed, is back in top form. And still investing in updates. The The engineers decided to explore a bit more the front part of the car. , so there are some adjustments to the suspension and front wing. The idea is to increase airflow in that area and, consequently, enhance aerodynamic performance. A new air intake near the wheels was also installed. The rear air intake was modified in the same way. Given the context, Norris opted to continue using the new front suspension, designed to make driving easier for him. Oscar, on the other hand, preferred to stick with the original system.
Even in different setups, both were able to deliver consistent performance throughout the day, especially in the afternoon, when they were also running race pace. McLaren is far from the competition in this regard, it must be said. So much so that the rookie Alexander Dunne , leader of Formula 2 , drove the car in TL1 instead of Lando and finished the session in fourth position, 0.2 seconds behind George Russell, who led the first practice.
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"I didn't mind staying in the pit-wall during TL1," Norris recounted. "I felt more relaxed outside than inside the car. I've always liked this circuit and the car was good from the start. Alex gave good feedback to the team, he was with a strong pace and I think we found our direction in TL2," he concluded. "I still need to fine-tune some details, but we made good strides in the right direction and hope to improve. We showed more pace than the others, but I'm sure they will catch up. Max isn't far off and usually improves a lot on Saturday," he highlighted.
Norris is right when he looks at Verstappen as his main rival on Saturday in Austria. And although the difference of 0.3 seconds represents a significant gap on such a short track like the one in Red Bull Ring , history teaches that it is, at the very least, imprudent to discard the four-time champion of the fight. Dutch finished Friday with the third best time and quite competitive race pace. Although he complained about certain instability of the car, RB21 — he reported that the car was stepping out in some sections —, it seems fair to say that the Taurinos worked well on the updates, focused on the ends of the floor. The goal is to minimize the imbalance when attacking the chicanes and curves.
In terms of classification and race pace, Red Bull has a deficit to McLaren, but is much closer to (almost on par with) Mercedes, who is trying to dodge the heat of the Austrian summer. The differences are around 0.1 to 0.2 seconds. Despite reports about the car's front, Verstappen assured that the team "didn't have major issues," which already serves as a warning signal in the British garages.
And look, the pilot #1 is without his right arm this weekend. The engineer Gianpiero Lambiase It's the absence in the energy drink boxes and will be replaced in the home race of the bullfighters by the also experienced Simon Rennie. "I think Simon's work so far has been very good. I've known him for a long time and we've also worked together in the simulator," said Max.
Meanwhile, Mercedes is trying to close the gap to the leaders. The German team, which comes from a categorical victory Montreal and that won the 2024 edition of Austrian GP , aims to minimize the effects of heat — the W16 It's a very fast car, but still dependent on temperatures. In fact, it prefers the cold, and the forecast in the Spielberg region is for thermometers between 27°C and 29°C. In TL1, Russell clocked 1m05s542 on the clock and took the top spot on the time sheets, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli He had to be content with 11th place — over 0.5 seconds behind his teammate. A little later, in FP2, the Italian finished in exactly the same position and the Briton dropped to sixth place, with over 0.6 seconds behind the leader Norris.
It's a considerable difference, but the race pace, especially Antonelli's, seemed more convincing. "We had a solid start to the weekend in FP1. The overall balance of the car was good, and we seemed strong on the qualifying lap. We focused more on long stints and managed to get decent data. Everything seemed to be in a reasonable position in terms of pace and tire wear," he said. Andrew Shovlin , engineering director of Mercedes.
The performance in the race simulations continued to be good, and since we started this program earlier than the others, we were able to complete more laps. McLaren "It still seems to be the team to beat, which is not surprising on a track like this, but we are reasonably satisfied with today as a starting point for our weekend," he concluded.
The weather forecast for Saturday indicates cloudy with periods of sunshine and temperatures ranging from 14°C to 27°C. In any case, all cards are on the table.
A Formula 1 holds the Austrian GP this weekend, from June 27 to 29. no Red Bull Ring , 11th stage of the 2025 season. GRAND PRIX watches over all activities LIVE AND IN IT REAL TIME , in addition to classification and racing SECOND SCREEN on YouTube , in partnership with Voz do Esporte. <Briefing> Come to analyze at the end of each day of activities on social networks and in GPTV.
In addition to the traditional coverage, the GRAND PRIX <failed> On site em Spielberg to follow all the emotions of the stage with the reporter Leonid Kliuev .
F1 Austrian GP: check the schedules in Brazil, Cape Verde Portugal , Angola and Mozambique:
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