George Russell topped the final practice session at the Austrian Grand Prix, beating Kimi Antonelli by 0.038s. The Mercedes pair finished first and second in FP3, a tight order that set up qualifying with little to separate the front runners.
Mercedes at Red Bull Ring
Russell’s best lap was 1m 07.096s. Antonelli had led FP3 with 1m 07.134s before Russell went quicker in the closing stages, and Lewis Hamilton was only 0.115s back in third.
That left Mercedes with the two fastest cars in the session at the Red Bull Ring. Oscar Piastri finished fourth, Lando Norris fifth and Max Verstappen sixth, keeping the leading group stacked within a narrow margin.
Antonelli Set the Pace Early
Antonelli controlled much of the session after taking over from Lando Norris, who had gone fastest after 20 minutes with 1m 07.832s. Piastri then moved into second, before Antonelli went quickest by nearly three tenths at one stage.
The order kept changing as the laps came down. Charles Leclerc moved into second while Russell was third at that point, then Antonelli improved again to 1m 07.134s before Russell answered in the final runs.
Late Runs Changed FP3
The closing minutes decided it. Russell found the lap that mattered, Antonelli missed by 0.038s, and Hamilton stayed close enough in third to keep Mercedes firmly in the mix before qualifying at the Formula 1 Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix 2026.
FP3 had begun in 31-degree heat, with Sergio Perez first on track at 1230 local time and Max Verstappen the last driver to head out. Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas had already lost running in Free Practice 2 after issues cut short their sessions, while Carlos Sainz drew a black and white flag for driving unnecessarily slowly and Verstappen reported "constant weird interference". Norris was also told his left mirror was "completely broken" before returning to the pits.
