McLaren junior Alex Dunne was the story of FP1 at the Austrian Grand Prix as he wowed on debut.

The Irishman – who currently leads the F2 Championship – delivered a flawless first session in Formula 1 to finish P4, within a tenth of team-mate and Championship leader Oscar Piastri, with FP1 pacesetter George Russell just two-tenths up the road.

Austrian GP: Russell fastest in FP1 as Dunne shines

FP1 in Austria was a proud moment for Formula 2 Championship leader Alex Dunne, who made his debut in the McLaren MCL39, as Lando Norris sat out the session.

Meanwhile at Ferrari, Dino Beganovic was in as Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate for the opening hour of practice, and Hamilton was keen to get out there and test the new Ferrari SF-25 floor upgrade, while the diffuser has also been altered. Red Bull has also made floor changes.

McLaren meanwhile has made front suspension and corner alterations, plus rear corner tweaks, while over at Mercedes, there is a redesigned engine cover, and a brake duct inlet to respond to braking characteristics at the Red Bull Ring, Mercedes arriving off the back of a double podium after George Russell’s Canadian GP win and P3 for Kimi Antonelli.

Dunne was soon calling for a team radio upgrade, with three voices coming through at once, certainly not what someone contesting their first Formula 1 session would enjoy.

F1 2025 head-to-head standings

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Russell was setting the early pace on the hard Pirelli tyres, a 1:06.537 the time to chase.

Verstappen – who has Simon Rennie in his ear this weekend due to the absence of long-serving race director Gianpiero Lambiase – was on the case, but was left waving a hand in frustration as he went into the Turn 1 run-off. Turn 3 was catching Yuki Tsunoda out in the sister Red Bull.

Antonelli was “struggling with front locking”, but that did not stop him improving to P2, two-tenths down on Russell who had upped the pace to a 1:06.139.

Hamilton had been lapping comfortably outside the top 10 when his session was interrupted with a gearbox issue, critical time lost as he returned to the Ferrari garage and the investigation began.

And on the other side, Beganovic was out of the car with the floor off the second Ferrari.

No such dramas for Russell who extended his advantage after moving onto the soft tyre, a 1:05.776 his new benchmark as the session reached its halfway point.

Fortunately for Hamilton Ferrari’s repair work was swift, giving him a further half an hour to work with in the session. It was a similarly positive outcome for Beganovic.

Fernando Alonso triggered the first yellow flag of the race weekend as he was left facing the wrong way in his Aston Martin out of the final turn, his soft tyres the only casualty.

“That was the worst out-lap we can do. Good to do it in FP1,” was Alonso’s verdict.

Out front Championship leader Piastri had moved onto the soft rubber and was giving Russell reason to sweat, as he reduced the Brit’s buffer to a tenth-and-a-half, before Verstappen slashed that again, Russell now only 0.065s up the road.

And Piastri was not the only McLaren Russell had to worry about. Dunne had been building-up his session and upon returning to the softs, shot up to P4, lapping within a tenth of Piastri.

With 10 minutes to go, Russell was reporting “a few rain drops” as a dark cloud rolled in over the circuit.

An extreme weather warning had been issued at the track on Thursday, as hail battered the Red Bull Ring.

No hail this time, or rain which stretched beyond those few drops, as Russell topped FP1 from Verstappen and Piastri, with Dunne an extremely impressive P4, a performance which will have turned heads up and down the F1 paddock.

Austrian Grand Prix FP1 timesheet

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:05.542
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.065
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.155
4 Alexander Dunne McLaren +0.224
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.238
6 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +0.332
7 Alexander Albon Williams +0.404
8 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.475
9 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.557
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.568
11 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.588
12 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +0.598
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.618
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.628
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.647
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine +0.704
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +0.720
18 Dino Beganovic Ferrari +0.827
19 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +0.968
20 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +1.196

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