F1 practice makes perfect as Norris pips Piastri

Perth Now

7 hours ago

McLaren wrapped up practice for the Austrian Grand Prix with Lando Norris leading Formula One pacesetter Oscar Piastri in another team one-two at the top of the time sheets ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Norris, second in the standings 22 points behind Piastri after 10 of the season's 24 races, lapped the Red Bull Ring with a best time of one minute 04.324 seconds - 0.118 quicker than his Australian teammate.
Verstappen was 0.210 off the pace, with a big spin at the last corner at the end of the session. He was followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and fifth.
McLaren topped two of the three sessions, with Mercedes' George Russell fastest in the opening practice on Friday but sixth on Saturday that was much warmer - and getting hotter.
"That's why it went a little bit belly-up for us. We were quite competitive until the end, and then you can see really it goes above a certain threshold of temperature and we lose performance," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports television.
"The McLarens in high-speed (corners) are going to be very difficult to match.
"We changed the balance a bit yesterday and that was in a direction that wasn't so perfect. It came back more today, but then the track temperature developed so drastically during the session, we went from 33 degrees to 42 and that makes a big difference."
Mercedes had Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli seventh, ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top 10.
Norris was also fastest in Friday's second session and is looking determined after drawing a blank in Canada two weeks ago when he collided with Piastri.