GEORGE RUSSELL topped the times for Mercedes ahead of four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull in Friday’s opening practice ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The 27-year-old Briton clocked a best lap in one minute and 5.542 seconds to outpace his Dutch rival by 0.065 seconds ahead of McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri and his temporary team-mate, reserve driver Alex Dunne, who delivered an impressive debut.
The Irishman settled into the session and ramped up his speed in the closing stages to finish only 0.09 seconds adrift of Piastri in the car usually driven by Lando Norris.
Pierre Gasly was fifth for Alpine ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber, Williams’ Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari, who endured a troubled session.
RB rookie Isack Hadjar was 10th ahead of fellow-rookie Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes.
Russell was the winner of last year’s race in the Styrian Alps and won the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, giving him momentum for this weekend.
Dunne is Ireland’s first F1 driver since Ralph Firman in 2003.
Dino Beganovic made his second appearance of the season as reserve stepping in for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, alongside Hamilton. He wound up 18th.
Most teams introduced a range of upgrades, including a new floor for Ferrari, while Red Bull had a change of personnel in Verstappen’s group, the vastly-experieced Simon Rennie stepping in for Gianpiero Lambiasse, who had taken a weekend off.
By midway through the session, Russell had switched to softs and continued to set the pace as Ferrari were struggling again with both cars in the pits with problems.
Hamilton who had complained of gearbox issues was only 18th and Beganovic 19th ahead of Dunne, who was familiarizing himself with the demands of F1.
In a largely serene session, the first incident came with a spin for Fernando Alonso when he pushed on his first lap on softs at Turn 10.
“That was the worst out-lap we can do,” said the Aston Martin driver.
“Good to do it in FP1!”
