
Austrian GP Practice 1 LIVE updates as Ireland's Alex Dunne takes to McLaren car
The Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix is upon us this weekend, and first practice offers the drivers the opportunity to get dialled into the circuit ahead of qualifying and the race.
McLaren hold a healthy lead in the constructor's championship, while Oscar Piastri will hope to extend his driver's championship lead.
The championship leaders will give Offaly's Alex Dunne a run out in Lando Norris's MCL39, making him the first driver from Ireland to compete in an F1 weekend in 22 years.
The F2 championship leader will have a busy morning, having topped the F2 practice session earlier on before stepping into the McLaren.
After the session he will have to dash back to Rodin Motorsport to participate in F2 qualifying.
It's a hectic weekend in Spielberg as the Red Bull Ring hosts both F2 and F3 this weekend.
The chasing pack have made steps in recent weeks to eat into McLaren's advantage after George Russell's victory in Canada last time out.
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Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Red Bull boss dismisses speculation that Max Verstappen is in Mercedes talks as ‘a lot of noise'
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner dismissed talk of Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes, maybe even next year, as just noise on Saturday and suggested that the four-times world champion was irritated by it. Mercedes have George Russell out of contract at the end of the year and both the British driver and team boss Toto Wolff have referenced the possibility of Verstappen becoming available at some point. 'It's a lot of noise. I think Max gets quite annoyed by it and we are very clear with the contract that we have with Max until 2028,' Horner told Sky Sports television after Austrian Grand Prix qualifying. 'Anything is entirely speculative that is being said but we tend not to pay too much attention to it. READ MORE 'I can imagine that George is frustrated, he hasn't been given a contract yet. But that's between him and his team. The situation with Max, we know clearly where we're at, as does Max,' he added. 'Everything is subject to noise and within any contract it remains confidential between the parties.' Verstappen is known to have a release clause in his contract which would allow him to leave if certain performance targets are not met. The Dutch driver is third overall in the championship, 43 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri, but qualified only seventh on Saturday for his team's home race at the Red Bull Ring with McLaren's Lando Norris on pole. Verstappen recognised he would not have been able to take pole position even without the yellow flags that forced him to abort his final effort. 'FP3 [final practice] wasn't too bad but somehow in qualifying it just completely disappeared, there wasn't a single corner where I felt happy with the car,' said the champion. 'That is of course a big problem with qualifying. 'Hopefully tomorrow we can at least be competitive with Ferrari or Mercedes. I don't know because with the balance that I had in quali, for sure that is not going to look great for tomorrow.'

The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
Dominant Norris secures pole position for Austrian Grand Prix
A DOMINANT LANDO Norris delivered the perfect response to his Montreal horror show by securing an emphatic pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. Norris' world championship bid was dealt a major setback a fortnight ago when he ran into the back of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. But the British driver has been in excellent form at the Red Bull Ring, topping all of the practice sessions he has competed in, before landing the 12th pole of his career. Norris' margin over second-placed Charles Leclerc was a huge 0.521 seconds – the biggest of the year so far at the shortest track on the calendar. Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the title standings, could manage only third, 0.583 secs behind his team-mate with Lewis Hamilton fourth. Piastri was unable to complete his final lap in Q3 after Alpine's Pierre Gasly spun ahead of him. Advertisement After landing his first win of the season last time out in Canada, George Russell ended up in fifth, but Max Verstappen could manage only seventh after he complained that his Red Bull was 'undriveable'. Norris admitted he made a fool of himself when he collided with Piastri in Montreal, and was warned of 'tough conversations' by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. However, the 25-year-old Bristolian has been in a class of one so far here, and he will start the 11th round of this 24-race season as the favourite to claim a win which could serve as a springboard to get his title charge back on track a week out from his home event at Silverstone. Norris' first lap in Q3 placed him two tenths faster than anyone else, and he then pulled out more than half-a-second with his next lap. 'It was a good lap, that's for sure,' said Norris. 'I feel like my first lap in Q3 was good but I knew I could get more time and I did exactly that. I did what I planned to do and when I do that and it goes right it is usually very good. 'Some of my tough moments have been in qualifying, so to have a performance like that is exciting. I am very happy with today but I want to prove it to myself over and over again and I hope this is just the beginning.' Verstappen is 43 points off the championship pace and he faces the prospect of losing further ground following a disappointing qualifying session at a venue he has so often ruled. Verstappen has won five times in the Styrian mountains, and taken the last four pole positions here, but he has looked out of sorts in his unruly Red Bull machine. 'The car is completely undriveable,' he said over the radio after finishing nearly a second behind Norris. 'It is even worse than before. I don't even know what to say.' Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda qualified only 18th. Ollie Bearman out-qualified Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon for the fourth time of his rookie campaign, progressing to Q2 and finishing 15th. One of the grid's other rookies, Gabriel Bortoleto, impressed to haul his Sauber into Q3 for the first occasion in his career. He will start eighth on Sunday.


Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Dominant Lando Norris secures pole position for Austrian Grand Prix
A dominant Lando Norris delivered the perfect response to his Montreal horror show by securing an emphatic pole position for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. Norris's world championship bid was dealt a major setback a fortnight ago when he ran into the back of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. But the British driver has been in excellent form at the Red Bull Ring, topping all of the practice sessions he has competed in, before landing the 12th pole of his career. Norris's margin over second-placed Charles Leclerc was a huge 0.521 seconds – the biggest of the year so far at the shortest track on the calendar. READ MORE Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the title standings, could manage only third, 0.583 secs behind his team-mate with Lewis Hamilton fourth. Piastri was unable to complete his final lap in Q3 after Alpine's Pierre Gasly spun ahead of him. After landing his first win of the season last time out in Canada, George Russell ended up in fifth, but Max Verstappen could manage only seventh after he complained that his Red Bull was 'undriveable'. Norris admitted he made a fool of himself when he collided with Piastri in Montreal, and was warned of 'tough conversations' by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. However, the 25-year-old fro Bristol has been in a class of one so far here, and he will start the 11th round of this 24-race season as the favourite to claim a win which could serve as a springboard to get his title charge back on track a week out from his home event at Silverstone. Norris's first lap in Q3 placed him two tenths faster than anyone else, and he then pulled out more than half-a-second with his next lap. 'It was a good lap, that's for sure,' said Norris. 'I feel like my first lap in Q3 was good but I knew I could get more time and I did exactly that. I did what I planned to do and when I do that and it goes right it is usually very good. 'Some of my tough moments have been in qualifying, so to have a performance like that is exciting. I am very happy with today but I want to prove it to myself over and over again and I hope this is just the beginning.' Verstappen is 43 points off the championship pace and he faces the prospect of losing further ground following a disappointing qualifying session at a venue he has so often ruled. Verstappen has won five times in the Styrian mountains, and taken the last four pole positions here, but he has looked out of sorts in his unruly Red Bull machine. 'The car is completely undriveable,' he said over the radio after finishing nearly a second behind Norris. 'It is even worse than before. I don't even know what to say.' Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda qualified only 18th. Ollie Bearman out-qualified Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon for the fourth time of his rookie campaign, progressing to Q2 and finishing 15th. One of the grid's other rookies, Gabriel Bortoleto, impressed to haul his Sauber into Q3 for the first occasion in his career. He will start eighth on Sunday.