Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli secured the fastest time in the second qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday, June 27, 2026.
He also led the Friday practice sessions.
Championship leader Antonelli topped the Q2 timesheets with a 1:06.763 lap. He finished ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen narrowly advanced to Q3 in tenth place by just 0.04 seconds.
Friday Practice Insights
During the Friday sessions, Mercedes teammate George Russell evaluated the competitive landscape after finishing sixth in practice. He noted a strong initial showing from their immediate grid rivals.
"It was a real surprise to see the first lap of the McLarens in P2 right at the top and their race pace, especially on Lando's side, looked a bit better than us," said George Russell.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri secured second place in both practice and Q2, trailing Antonelli by 0.237 seconds on Friday.
He acknowledged the raw performance capabilities demonstrated by the championship leader.
"We are a step behind Mercedes, or at least Kimi, which we expected.
For Kimi to do that kind of time on his second lap on the soft is quite impressive," said Oscar Piastri.
The competitive outlook for the weekend was echoed by team management.
McLaren Technical Director Applied Engineering Neil Houldey identified the baseline speed of the Mercedes package as the primary target.
"The Mercedes, and especially Kimi are going to be very difficult to beat," said Neil Houldey.
Ferrari brought an engine upgrade to the event.
Team Principal Frederic Vasseur downplayed expectations after Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finished fifth and eighth on Friday.
"It was a tough Friday that we struggled a little but with the conditions, a bit extreme, the altitude, the temperature," said Frederic Vasseur.
Vasseur highlighted the short development window available since the governing body authorized the power unit updates.
"It is the same for everyone but it is not suiting very well to us.
We have the night to correct to put everything together and let's try to do a better job on Saturday.
So far we are far away from our potential."
"We knew about Aduo two weeks ago, you cannot expect to have a huge step forward.
It is a new engine for sure but it is not a decent step," said Vasseur.
Red Bull also introduced technical updates.
Isack Hadjar, who finished seventh in Q2, reported that both he and Verstappen encountered persistent balance issues throughout the early sessions.
"It's not a completely different car. It feels like the usual.
We still have work to do to catch up. For some reason we were quite slow to get started, the car comes alive sometimes in qualifying.
We need to get it sorted because it's quite tough. We are struggling with grip.
It's a speed range we've been good at so to have this behaviour from the car, I don't understand," said Isack Hadjar.
