2nd practice session at Spielberg: flames, spins and fastest time from championship leader Antonelli

Just like the first free practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix, the second session on Friday also took place in hot conditions. The air temperature was 31.8 degrees Celsius, and the tarmac at the Red Bull Ring had heated up to 48.2 degrees when the first cars took to the track at the start of the session. Most drivers set out on the medium tyres, including Alex Albon, who, however, didn’t get very far. “I’ve got no power,” the veteran Williams driver explained over the radio after just three minutes, and headed for the pits after just one lap, where the team tackled the problem, which was quickly resolved.

Meanwhile, the rest of the GP drivers got on with their work, and it wasn’t long before the first lap times started to appear. After seven minutes, Albon was back on track, and apart from the Londoner, Sergio Pérez, Arvid Lindblad and George Russell had also yet to set a timed lap. Everyone else had already set a time, and in the early stages Lando Norris was the fastest with a time of 1:08.000.

Early virtual safety car phase due to Sergio Pérez

The session was less than ten minutes old when the field was brought to a halt by a virtual safety car after Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez had to park his Cadillac at Turn 6. The Mexican had already caused a red flag at the end of the first free practice session after coming to a halt on the track.

Max Verstappen was grappling with a completely different set of concerns. The four-time champion from the Red Bull Racing team complained about his seating position and headed for the pits after five laps so that the team could make the necessary adjustments. Whilst the marshals were clearing the American driver’s car from the track, Cadillac announced that the same problem as in the first practice session had cropped up. During the break between sessions, the power unit’s control electronics had been replaced. Apparently, this measure did not have the desired effect.

The virtual safety car period lasted seven minutes, after which the GP stars were allowed to really put their foot down again. Nevertheless, nothing changed at the top for the time being. Even after 20 minutes, Norris remained the leader with a time of 1:08.000, ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri. That changed shortly afterwards when championship leader Kimi Antonelli slipped in between the McLaren duo. The teenager from the Mercedes team was just under two tenths of a second off Norris’s best time.

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26.07.2026 - 17:15

Spin by world champion Lando Norris

The Briton from the McLaren team remained in the lead, but not without a scare. He spun out in the third corner, lifting off the track as the slow-motion footage showed. The world champion suffered some brake pad wear as a result, but was able to make his way back to the pits under his own power, meaning his rivals were soon able to get back to full throttle unhindered.

In contrast to the champion, championship leader Kimi Antonelli did everything right and took the lead three minutes before the halfway mark with a time of 1:07.657. Whilst Max Verstappen set the sixth-fastest lap in the minutes that followed, Valtteri Bottas reported over the radio that he could see smoke in the cockpit. “We’ll see what might be causing that,” came the reply from the Cadillac pit wall.

Halfway through the second session, the order was: Antonelli ahead of Norris, Piastri, Russell, Charles Leclerc, Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, Isack Hadjar, Albon, Arvid Lindblad, Liam Lawson, Ollie Bearman, Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Carlos Sainz, Bottas, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso and Pérez.

Bottas’s Cadillac with a burning underbody

Bottas headed for the pits, where his burning underbody was extinguished by the Cadillac team. Apparently, the underbody panel had been scraping against the tarmac, causing it to overheat and catch fire. The team stated shortly afterwards that the car had overheated and that they were investigating the cause. The other drivers remained focused, and new names and times kept appearing at the top of the timesheets.

First, Piastri was the fastest with a time of 1:07.251, then Antonelli followed with 1:07.209. Both Cadillac cars were therefore back in the pits, and the team dampened fans’ hopes of seeing at least one of the two experienced drivers from the US team back on track for the second practice session. They said this was unlikely.

The numerous fans who had stayed on at the track got their money’s worth, as several top drivers made mistakes and went off the track. Norris, for example, skidded over the kerbs shortly after Hamilton had gone off the track at Turn 3.

With 20 minutes to go before the end of the session, everyone was out on soft tyres and Antonelli set the fastest time of 1:07.014. Verstappen also managed to improve his time, finishing in fourth place, just over half a second behind the teenager’s best time.

Heat causes problems

Both Red Bull Racing stars struggled in Turn 3 because the engine mapping caused a sudden drop in revs, making driving difficult, as Verstappen radioed back to the pits. Nevertheless, both managed to stay in the top 10. With ten minutes remaining in the session, Antonelli continued to lead the timesheets ahead of Piastri and Norris, followed by Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell, Hadjar, Leclerc, Lawson and Bortoleto in the remaining top-10 positions, ahead of Gasly, Lindblad, Bearman, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Colapinto, Albon, Sainz, Alonso, sTroll, Bottas and Pérez.

Verstappen lost a carbon fibre part from his GP car during a wild ride over the kerbs, Norris once again braked too late in the third corner, and Hadjar demanded more power from his car over the radio. “You always want more,” remarked Red Bull Racing team principal Laurent Mekies pointedly. Norris also voiced concerns; when his team asked him to cool the brakes, he replied: “I think my tyres were on fire for about five laps.” Lawson wasn’t happy in the cockpit either; he spoke of a “terrible smell” inside the cockpit. The GP stars were eventually allowed to complete a start drill, after which they all headed for the pits.

There were no further changes at the top; Antonelli remained the fastest with a time of 1:07.014, whilst Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell, Hadjar, Leclerc, Lawson and Bortoleto completed the top 10 ahead of Gasly, Lindblad, Bearman, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Colapinto, Albon, Sainz, Alonso, Stroll, Bottas and Pérez.