Hamilton given formal warning as difficult Ferrari start continues
Lewis Hamilton's difficult start to life at Ferrari continued on Friday as he was handed a warning by the race stewards after winding up 10th in second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion was alleged to have impeded his successor at Mercedes, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, at turn four of the fast and technical Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps.
Hamilton apologised immediately and explained that he had not seen Antonelli approaching behind him as he descended over the crest of a hill on a slow lap and drifted into the racing line.
Hamilton raised his hand to signal his apology to Antonelli as he passed him.
After speaking to Hamilton, the stewards decided to give the Briton a formal warning -- the usual sanction for such a misdemeanour in practice.
It is the third time this season that Hamilton has been warned.
"The driver of car 44 (Hamilton), although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about car 12 (Antonelli) closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to turn four and thereby unnecessarily impeded car 12 which had to take evasive action," said the stewards in a statement.
Hamilton was given a three-place grid drop at the Monaco Grand Prix where he impeded four-time champion Max Verstappen in qualifying when his race engineer Riccardo Adami wrongly informed him that the Dutchman was not on a flying lap.
Hamilton struggled with gearbox problems on Friday as he evaluated a new floor design on his Ferrari car.
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Norris bounces back as McLaren take 1-2 in Austrian practice
Lando Norris bounced back from his Canadian catastrophe with his customary smile on Friday after topping the times ahead of team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri as McLaren reeled off a solid 1-2 in practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. As the paddock digested news that Mercedes had held talks about possibly signing Max Verstappen from Red Bull alongside George Russell in 2026 Norris clocked a best lap in one minute and 4.580 seconds to beat Piastri by 0.157 seconds. Four-time champion Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, adrift by 0.318 seconds. For Norris, who sat out the first session at the Red Bull Ring, it was a relief to move on from his collision with team-mate Piastri in Montreal where he retired pointless, admitting he had "made a fool of myself". "I didn't mind sitting on the pit wall," he said, with a grin, referring to missing the morning session. "I actually felt a lot more relaxed there than in the car, especially here. "I've always enjoyed this track. The car felt good right from the start. Alex (Dunne, reserve driver) gave solid feedback this morning after FP1 and was on pace straight away, which was encouraging to see." Norris added that he was pleased with the development of the car with McLaren's latest upgrades. "They definitely moved the car in the right direction for FP2," he said. "Now, we just need to figure out if we want more of that tomorrow, less, or somewhere in between. "So, it's a good step forward, but hopefully there's still a bit more to come." - 'Max is still close' - AFP | Joe Klamar McLaren came to the Styrian Alps with three performance-based updates including aerodynamic revisions of the front and rear of the car and suspension. Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the title race, said he was satisfied with his first day in the car. "It looked pretty good," he said. "Max is still close, so I think he'll definitely be a threat this weekend, but the car's feeling good. I think the pace is quite good, so a positive first day." He added that both he and Norris had "all the parts that we think will make the car faster" on their cars. Verstappen, who took his time to improve through the sessions, said: "We didn't have any big issues. "We lack a bit of pace and had too much understeer, both on the short and the long run. So that is something we have to try to get rid of." Lance Stroll was fourth for Aston Martin ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, George Russell of Mercedes, who won last year and two weeks ago in Canada, and Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull. Gabriel Bortoleto was eighth for Sauber ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, struggling in his updated Ferrari. Norris added: "We've shown a bit more pace than some others, so I certainly think they're going to catch up. Max is not far behind and they normally improve a lot on Saturday. "So I expect a good day tomorrow (Saturday) and I'm sure we'll improve on some things, but it's not as easy as maybe it looked. "I think it's still going to be tight tomorrow — it always is. There's no reason for it not to be, but we'll work hard to make it as big of a gap as possible."
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Hamilton given formal warning as difficult Ferrari start continues
Lewis Hamilton's difficult start to life at Ferrari continued on Friday as he was handed a warning by the race stewards after winding up 10th in second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. The seven-time champion was alleged to have impeded his successor at Mercedes, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, at turn four of the fast and technical Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps. Hamilton apologised immediately and explained that he had not seen Antonelli approaching behind him as he descended over the crest of a hill on a slow lap and drifted into the racing line. Hamilton raised his hand to signal his apology to Antonelli as he passed him. After speaking to Hamilton, the stewards decided to give the Briton a formal warning -- the usual sanction for such a misdemeanour in practice. It is the third time this season that Hamilton has been warned. "The driver of car 44 (Hamilton), although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about car 12 (Antonelli) closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to turn four and thereby unnecessarily impeded car 12 which had to take evasive action," said the stewards in a statement. Hamilton was given a three-place grid drop at the Monaco Grand Prix where he impeded four-time champion Max Verstappen in qualifying when his race engineer Riccardo Adami wrongly informed him that the Dutchman was not on a flying lap. Hamilton struggled with gearbox problems on Friday as he evaluated a new floor design on his Ferrari car.
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Norris leads McLaren one-two in second Austrian GP practice
Lando Norris led Formula One leader Oscar Piastri in a McLaren one-two in second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday after George Russell went fastest for Mercedes in the opening session. Norris had handed his car to Alex Dunne for an impressive F1 practice debut for the Irish rookie and Formula Two leader, but the Briton was right up to speed as soon as he got back behind the wheel. After Russell's best of 1:05.542 seconds in the early afternoon, Norris — 22 points behind Piastri in the title battle after 10 of 24 races — lapped in 1:04.580 with Piastri 0.157 slower. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen, a five-time winner at his team's home circuit, was the only other driver under the five second mark with a 1:04.898. Russell, winner from pole position in Canada two weeks ago after the McLarens collided, was sixth in practice two with Lance Stroll a surprise fourth for Aston Martin and Charles Leclerc fifth for Ferrari. Verstappen was without regular race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase for the weekend due to personal reasons with Simon Rennie taking over. Dunne, given track time as part of team obligations to give rookie drivers F1 experience, was the talk of the first session when he lapped fourth fastest and only 0.069 slower than Piastri. Still only 19 and the first Irish driver in 22 years to take part in a grand prix weekend, he thanked the team over the radio as the chequered flag fell. 'A little boy's dream came true, and this is definitely the best day of my life,' he said. 'Thank you everyone for letting me do this, and thanks to Lando as well for trusting me with his car.' McLaren team boss Andrea Stella cautioned not to read too much into the time, however. 'Alex has been quite diligent and impressive, and then he also had the chance to show some speed and, no surprise, he is a fast driver,' said the Italian. 'I think we need to be a bit careful looking at the lap times, because his came later on in the stint when the fuel was down. But I think encouraging and impressive in terms of Alex himself, and also I think a good session for McLaren.' Austria has the shortest lap of the year in terms of time and all but 20th-placed Haas driver Oliver Bearman were within a second of Russell in the opening session. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was ninth and 10th respectively in the sessions as Ferrari made a difficult start to their preparations with mechanics working on both cars during practice one. Hamilton was also warned for impeding Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli. 'I didn't see Antonelli,' he said over the radio after the Italian went wide to avoid a collision. Leclerc sat out that session with Swedish reserve Dino Beganovic getting some track time and finishing 18th.
