Friday at Zeltweg: Andrea Kimi Antonelli shines while Ferrari becomes the biggest question mark
At the Red Bull Ring, Andrea Kimi Antonelli looked untouchable on Friday, although Mercedes appeared to be running more aggressive engine maps than usual. McLaren emerged as the closest challenger, while Ferrari combined tyre-related struggles with a significant deficit in engine performance.
Is everyone playing hide and seek?
The opening day of the Austrian Grand Prix weekend proved to be an extremely busy one for every Formula 1 team, particularly from a technical perspective. During Friday afternoon’s second practice session, the focus shifted almost entirely towards race simulations, with teams completing long runs to evaluate tyre degradation and overall race pace.
Because the Red Bull Ring is one of the shortest circuits on the Formula 1 calendar and offers several overtaking opportunities, qualifying is slightly less decisive here than at many other venues, even though the battle for pole position is still expected to be separated by mere thousandths of a second. With very high temperatures forecast and a two-stop strategy likely to be the preferred option on Sunday, understanding long-run behaviour and managing tyre degradation became the priority for every team.
Mercedes still leads, but Andrea Kimi Antonelli steals the spotlight
Mercedes once again finished the day at the top of the timing sheets, but it was Andrea Kimi Antonelli who truly stood out. The Italian appeared completely at ease behind the wheel after solving the rear-end balance issues that had limited him during the opening practice session.
Earlier in the day, an unstable rear axle had made life difficult through the circuit’s medium- and high-speed corners, where lateral loads are at their highest. By FP2, however, those problems seemed largely resolved. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was consistently competitive not only through the heavy braking zones but, perhaps even more impressively, throughout the fast, flowing second half of the lap, where aerodynamic efficiency and chassis balance become critical.
Despite the impressive overall performance, Mercedes’ Friday was not entirely flawless. One important factor should be considered when analysing the pace shown by the Brackley-based team. Potentially to evaluate the updated Power Unit introduced this weekend, Mercedes appeared to be running more aggressive engine modes than many of its rivals, resulting in noticeably stronger speed traces along the straights. At a power-sensitive circuit like the Red Bull Ring, this naturally provides a significant advantage.
George Russell also failed to match the pace displayed by his younger teammate, particularly over a single qualifying-style lap. Since the opposition already appeared relatively close despite Mercedes’ apparent engine advantage, Toto Wolff’s squad may not have the comfortable margin suggested by Friday’s timesheets. As always, the overnight work will reveal how much additional performance remains hidden within the W17.
McLaren emerges as Mercedes’ closest rival while Max Verstappen follows a different approach
Among Mercedes’ challengers, McLaren looked like the strongest package throughout Friday. The papaya car appeared exceptionally well balanced, with very few obvious weaknesses across both low- and high-speed sections of the circuit.
The team’s two drivers once again complemented each other perfectly. Oscar Piastri demonstrated outstanding outright speed over a single lap, while Lando Norris looked particularly convincing during the longer race simulations. McLaren’s aerodynamic platform generated excellent traction out of slow corners, allowing Andrea Stella’s engineers to maximise the characteristics of the Mercedes Power Unit through relatively short gear ratios and a deployment strategy that prioritises electrical energy at lower speeds to improve corner exits.
Equally encouraging was McLaren’s behaviour through the long, high-speed corners in the second sector, where the balance between aerodynamic downforce and suspension stiffness appeared particularly well optimised. Considering George Russell’s less convincing performance and the possibility that Andrea Kimi Antonelli was using more aggressive engine settings, the Oscar Piastri-Lando Norris pairing could have a genuine opportunity to challenge for victory if tyre management remains as competitive throughout the weekend.
Just behind the McLarens sat Max Verstappen, whose Friday unfolded in a characteristically understated fashion. Red Bull introduced significant changes to the RB22, yet the Dutchman appeared to adapt almost immediately.
One particularly interesting aspect was Red Bull’s energy deployment strategy. Unlike Mercedes, the Milton Keynes squad appeared to conserve electrical energy during the opening half of the lap before releasing maximum deployment through the downhill section leading towards Turn 9. Combined with the turbo lag repeatedly reported by both Red Bull drivers over team radio, this could point towards specific characteristics of the new Red Bull Power Unit, whose turbocharger seems optimised for high-rev, maximum-power operation while proving less effective during acceleration at the circuit’s high altitude.
As has often been the case this season, Red Bull’s overnight engineering work may once again prove decisive. If the team can extract additional performance before qualifying, Max Verstappen could quickly become a genuine contender for the podium.
Ferrari remains Friday’s biggest mystery
Ferrari’s situation was by far the most intriguing story of the day. Both the qualifying simulations and the long-run data revealed a car struggling to find its ideal operating window.
The SF-26 suffered from tyre behaviour that appeared unusually poor compared to the previous Grand Prix. However, driver feedback and on-board footage suggested the problem was not caused by a single dramatic balance issue. Instead, Ferrari simply lacked overall performance, with no obvious handling characteristic standing out as the main culprit.
This creates a particularly difficult scenario for the Maranello engineers. The car does not appear fundamentally unstable, yet it is simply too slow, making it much harder to identify where meaningful gains can be found before qualifying.
Compounding those chassis-related difficulties was an extremely conservative level of engine performance. Ferrari’s Power Unit looked significantly down on top speed across virtually every straight, including the long downhill run towards Turn 9. The impression is that several factors combined to produce such a substantial gap.
On one hand, Ferrari appeared to be running an especially cautious engine map, likely connected to the characteristics of its compact turbocharger. On the other, the chassis itself was not operating in its ideal setup window, while Mercedes seemed to be extracting considerably more from its own Power Unit than usual during Friday practice. The combination of these elements exaggerated Ferrari’s apparent lack of competitiveness.
Attention now turns to the overnight work in Maranello and at the circuit. Most of Ferrari’s improvements are expected to come from chassis setup rather than engine adjustments, although there is another important variable to consider. This weekend marks the debut of Ferrari’s revised Power Unit package, meaning its true performance potential may only become fully visible once qualifying begins.
Race pace: Mercedes controls tyre degradation while Ferrari simply lacks speed
The long-run simulations largely confirmed the trends seen during the qualifying runs. Mercedes looked consistently fast, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli producing particularly impressive pace while maintaining excellent tyre degradation.
McLaren remained extremely close to the Silver Arrows, although its tyre wear appeared slightly higher across the race simulations. Red Bull displayed a very similar pattern, remaining competitive while sacrificing a little more tyre life over extended stints.
Ferrari’s race pace painted a different picture. Interestingly, tyre degradation itself was not especially severe. Instead, the SF-26 simply circulated at consistently slower lap times, reinforcing the impression that the car is not being compromised by one specific weakness but rather by an overall lack of performance across multiple areas.
Heading into qualifying, several fascinating questions remain unanswered. Can McLaren and Red Bull close the gap to Andrea Kimi Antonelli? Will the Italian continue to outperform George Russell over a single lap? And perhaps most importantly for Ferrari supporters, can the Scuderia unlock the potential hidden within its revised package and rejoin the battle at the front?
Once again, the Austrian Grand Prix weekend is shaping up to deliver an intriguing fight as teams search for the final tenths before the grid is decided.
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