Antonelli pips Piastri to top Austria FP2

Antonelli set the benchmark time of 1m07.014s to beat Oscar Piastri by 0.237s, while Lando Norris ended the session third, 0.325s away from the Mercedes driver.

It marked a solid recovery for McLaren after its disrupted FP1, with both Piastri and Norris spending much of the earlier session in the garage before showing stronger pace across second practice.

Max Verstappen was another to recover from a difficult opening session, finishing fourth after overcoming an early seat issue in his Red Bull.

His time was good enough to edge Lewis Hamilton, who finished fifth for Ferrari, while George Russell was only sixth in the second Mercedes.

Isack Hadjar, Charles Leclerc, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the top 10.

Under sunny skies and hot conditions once again, most of the field was quick to head out as teams looked to complete both qualifying and race preparation.

The track temperature sat close to 50 degrees at the start of the session, with tyre management quickly becoming a focus across the field.

Nico Hulkenberg and Bortoleto were the first drivers on the road for Audi, while Hadjar was the first to dip under the 1m10s barrier with a 1m09.135s.

Norris then quickly lowered the benchmark with a 1m08.000s, while Piastri moved into second, two tenths behind his teammate, as McLaren made an early statement after its FP1 problems.

There was early drama for Alex Albon, who stopped in the pit lane after reporting “no power” in his Williams.

The session was then disrupted when Sergio Perez came to a halt on track in the Cadillac, having already endured problems in opening practice.

“I have the same problem,” Perez reported over team radio after stopping, despite a battery change between sessions.

The incident triggered a brief Virtual Safety Car while the Cadillac was cleared, with Perez unable to set a time and ending the session at the bottom of the standings.

Verstappen also had an uncomfortable start to the session, telling Red Bull he felt he was sitting differently in the car.

“I sit completely different in the car, I don’t know what’s going on,” Verstappen said, with the Dutchman suggesting he felt more reclined than before.

Russell was also delayed in the early stages, with his Mercedes sitting on stands before he finally joined the session after the Virtual Safety Car period.

Once running resumed, Norris remained on top from Piastri before Antonelli split the two McLarens, moving to within two tenths of Norris’ early benchmark.

Norris then had a spin at Turn 3 after overcooking the entry and losing the rear of the McLaren, forcing him to abandon that set of tyres.

Antonelli then moved to the top with a 1m07.657s, before Leclerc climbed to fifth and Verstappen moved into sixth as the frontrunners began to build towards their soft-tyre qualifying simulations.

Piastri was the first of the lead group to deliver a major soft-tyre lap, setting a 1m07.251s to move to the top of the order.

Hamilton slotted into second, 0.360s off Piastri, before Norris completed his own soft-tyre run to go second, just 0.088s behind his teammate.

Antonelli then found more time to edge ahead of Piastri, initially moving just 0.042s clear before improving again on his second effort to set the final benchmark time.

Outside of Perez’s issue and Norris’ spin, it was a relatively uneventful session overall, although Valtteri Bottas also suffered a technical issue late in the session, returning to the pits after reporting smoke from the cockpit.

Several other drivers also reported brake heat issues in the closing moments of the session, with some encountering them on the way to their practice starts at the end of the hour.

Final practice at the Austrian Grand Prix gets underway on Saturday at 12.30pm local time (8.30pm AEST).

Results: Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, Free Practice 2