George Russell produced a late burst of pace to top final practice at the Austrian Grand Prix from his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli. World championship leader Antonelli topped both of Friday’s practices at the Red Bull Ring and appeared to be further separating himself from his rivals for much of Saturday’s session, before the script flipped as his closest title challengers came to life in the closing stages. First, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton closed within a tenth of Antonelli, then Russell, who had looked out of
sorts for most of the session, delivered a lap of 1:07.096s to go 0.038s clear of his team-mate, setting up a potentially enthralling qualifying contest later on Saturday. Austrian GP: UK schedule and how to watch on Sky SportsF1 2026 standings | F1 2026 Calendar | F1 Gossip ColumnDownload the Sky Sports app for expert analysis, best video & more📱Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺 Antonelli leads Hamilton by 41 points at the top of the standings, with
Russell a further nine points back in third. The 19-year-old Italian had claimed the first five victories of his career in succession before Hamilton claimed his first win for Ferrari last time out in Barcelona. Oscar Piastri was almost a quarter of a second off the pace in fourth as he edged out his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen marginally behind them in sixth. Charles Leclerc once more struggled to match his Ferrari team-mate Hamilton as he was more than three
tenths off Russell’s leading time in seventh. More to follow. Sky Sports F1’s live Austrian GP schedule Saturday June 271.10pm: F2 Sprint2.15pm: Austrian GP Qualifying build-up*3pm: AUSTRIAN GP QUALIFYING*5pm: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook Sunday June 287.35am: F3 Feature Race9.05am: F2 Feature Race10.50am: Porsche Supercup12.30pm: Austrian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*2pm: THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX*4pm: Austrian GP reaction: Chequered Flag5pm: Ted’s Notebook *Also on Sky Sports Main Event Formula 1’s European season continues with the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky
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Austrian Grand Prix, Practice Three, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton, qualifying, Red Bull Ring, Mercedes, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri
Russell woke up at the last second, love to see it.
So Antonelli topped both practices but then suddenly everyone was close?? Quali gonna be chaos for sure. Also 41 points is wild, like how is that even real lol.
I swear Hamilton always looks bad until the last lap… then he’s like right there. 0.038s is basically nothing, so watch qualifying turn into some fake strategy thing again.
I don’t get it, they say Russell “looked out of sorts” all session but still ends up fastest by a tiny amount… so did they mess up the tires earlier or what. And Leclerc being 3 tenths off feels like Ferrari just can’t buy speed anymore, it’s always somebody else. Qualifying better be on, I’m pretty sure it starts at 3pm local??