Verstappen on Red Bull's hard-to-assess Red Bull Ring upgrade
Max Verstappen said Red Bull’s new upgrade package was hard to assess after “hit-and-miss” behaviour in Turn 3 during Friday practice at the Red Bull Ring. Verstappen said: "It's like the rears are grabbing, locking up and you lose all the support. It's not a linear grip, it's not nice. You're constantly guessing the grip. And then once you go back on throttle, the engine has to catch up and it creates wheelspin on the exit."
Why Red Bull suffered “hit-and-miss” issues during first test of crucial F1 upgrade
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Kimi Antonelli leads Austrian GP long runs as Ferrari upgrade falls flat
Hamilton on Ferrari needing more performance before Austrian qualifying
Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari need to “unlock some performance” from his SF-26 ahead of FP3 and qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix after ending Friday fifth fastest in both practice sessions at the Red Bull Ring. Lewis Hamilton said: "We've definitely got some work to do to find the right setup and balance and unlock some performance. It's all about staying focused, understanding where we're losing out and seeing what we can do ahead of tomorrow."
Lewis Hamilton sets Ferrari demand after 'unforgiving' challenge
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Leclerc on Ferrari struggling for straight-line speed in Austria
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari will “struggle this weekend” at the Austrian Grand Prix after what he described as a “particularly difficult Friday”, with the team losing too much time on the straights and no clear fix for its straight-line speed. Leclerc said: "As we've said I think yesterday, the straights are quite a lot and we are losing so much time down the straights. I don't think we have a fix though for the straight-line speed, and for that reason I think we'll struggle this weekend. It's been a particularly difficult Friday for the team again, so I don't think either Lewis or me are happy with the car at the moment."
Leclerc expects Ferrari to struggle after ‘difficult Friday'
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Are Mercedes a step ahead of the competition in Austria?
What the teams said – Friday in Austria
McLaren's shot at Mercedes? Four Austria practice pace takeaways
Vasseur on Ferrari being far away on pace in Austria
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur says his team is “far away” on pure pace at the Austrian Grand Prix after struggling through Friday practice in the hot conditions. Fred Vasseur said: "The degradation in Barcelona was much higher, and it was the main driver for the performance, at least in the race. But we were also able to fight for the pole position in qualifying. At least in terms of pure potential, we were there. Now, so far, we are far away. But it's true that in Barcelona we were not so shiny, also on Friday. We have a lot of potential to unlock tonight and we'll see tomorrow."
Ferrari "far away" from Barcelona repeat after "difficult" Austria F1 practice
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Perez on Cadillac electrical changes after Friday issue
Sergio Perez said Cadillac will change “pretty much everything” on the electrical side after an electrical problem ended his running in both Friday sessions at the Austrian Grand Prix. Perez said: "Unfortunately, running was very limited for me today. We don't really know what is the issue on my side, so we're going to be changing pretty much everything on the electrical side to make sure for tomorrow we can have a clean day because we have a lot of work ahead of us."
Cadillac reflect on Friday problems in Austria
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Hadjar on Red Bull's upgraded car at Austrian GP
Isack Hadjar said Red Bull’s upgraded car “feels like the usual” at the Austrian Grand Prix and that the team still has work to do after a difficult start to Friday practice. Hadjar said: "No, it's not a completely different car, to be honest. It feels like the usual, to be fair. We still have work to do to catch up. For some reason, we know in Free Practice we were quite slow to get started and the car comes alive sometimes in Qualifying, but we need to get it sorted because it's quite tough."
Red Bull ‘feels like the usual' after upgrades – Hadjar
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Houldey on McLaren withdrawing experimental rear wing in Austria
McLaren technical director Neil Houldey said the team pulled its experimental upside-down rear wing from the car at the Austrian Grand Prix after it did not perform as expected during final checks in the garage. Houldey said: "Unfortunately, we were unable to run the experimental wing we brought to the track. The team at the factory worked tirelessly to get it here, but during final sign-off tests in the garage, it didn't perform as expected, and we weren't comfortable running it. It's disappointing, but we will conduct more work on the component before bringing it to a future event."
McLaren explain reason behind 'disappointing' last-minute upgrade removal
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Lord on Mercedes' Austrian GP fight for pole and win
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord says the team “have a fight on our hands” for pole position and victory at the Austrian Grand Prix despite Kimi Antonelli setting the pace in Friday practice at the Red Bull Ring. Lord said: "Our suspicion is that we haven't yet seen everything that they've got to offer this weekend, and maybe they're running in a new power unit quite conservatively today, and then we'll see a bit more what they've got to bring tomorrow. Red Bull look in good shape as well with their big aero update, and as we've seen in the last few races, particularly the hot ones, McLaren are right there too. We've all got a fight on our hands, but that's how it should be."
Mercedes expect to have ‘fight on our hands' in Austria
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Piastri on McLaren trailing Mercedes in Austrian GP practice
Oscar Piastri admitted McLaren are still “a step behind” Mercedes – “or at least Kimi” Antonelli – after Friday practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri said: "It was a pretty good day. I think we're a step behind Mercedes – or at least Kimi – which we expected. I think it's been a pretty productive day, tried a lot of things. We had some homework to do on my side from Spain and I felt like we've been able to do a good job of trying to try some things."
Piastri admits McLaren ‘a step behind' Antonelli in Austria
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Mekies on keeping Verstappen with a fast Red Bull car
Red Bull's Laurent Mekies says keeping Max Verstappen is about making a fast car, as the team faces further rumours of a senior exit with chief engineer Paul Monaghan linked with a move to Cadillac and questions over whether Verstappen will stay beyond this season. Mekies said: "Max wants a fast car. He always wanted a fast car, and he completely trusts us in making sure we are doing everything we can, short term and long term, to ensure a return to success and continuous success. So, it's not a topic for us. The topic for us is get the car back to where we want it to be. And as you may, I hope, agree, if the car is back where we want it to be, there will be no discussion."
Red Bull confident of keeping Max Verstappen despite Paul Monaghan exit rumours
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Verstappen reports power unit issue
Max Verstappen flagged a driveability problem with Red Bull’s power unit during FP2 at the Austrian Grand Prix, complaining of an RPM drop at Turn 3 on push laps. Over team radio he said: “Look what happened there on the apex of Turn 3 with the engine. That’s what happens on the push lap as well. The drop in RPM, it’s clear.”
Max Verstappen raises alarm over Red Bull PU issue in Austrian GP team radio
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Verstappen on Red Bull falling short despite Austria upgrades
Max Verstappen says Red Bull “looks like” it is falling short at the Red Bull Ring despite introducing a major upgrade package for the Austrian Grand Prix, after a tricky Friday trying to find the right balance and grip. Verstappen said: "It was a bit tricky today to find the right balance. We need to work on the grip from the front to the rear. We need to find the right compromise there to try and find more speed, because it looks like we are falling a bit short. We will see what we can do tomorrow to find a bit more balance in general."
Max Verstappen issues Red Bull concern after major upgrade introduction
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Russell on McLaren threat in Austrian Grand Prix heat
George Russell says McLaren are Mercedes’ “biggest concern” at the Austrian Grand Prix, with high temperatures likely to play to their strengths after Friday practice. Russell said: "I think they are [a threat]. I think there's a real trend of these hot races that they're strong. We saw it last year; well, we've seen it for years now. Miami was the first real hot race and they arguably could have won. Barcelona, Lando was similar pace to ourselves and Lewis. And then here, they look really strong again. So there's a real trend at these hot races that they seem to step it up, and we maybe take a step backwards."
Which F1 rival is worrying George Russell and Mercedes in Austria
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Vowles on Williams upgrade plan beyond summer break
Williams team principal James Vowles says the team’s planned upgrade programme will run beyond the summer break, with a “nice little step” coming at Silverstone and a bigger change expected around Baku. Vowles said: "Our goal, simply for the time being this year, is to be ahead of them and I think it's realistic with the development rate we've got, but it will go past the summer break. I don't think many people will be adding the performance that we're planning to towards that period. Silverstone will be a nice little step. There will be little bits that come to most races and towards Baku, you'll see quite a major change."
Vowles shares upgrade plan after being 'impressed' by rivals
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Winners and losers from Austrian GP F1 practice 2026
Daniel Valente 🏎️
@F1GuyDan
🚨 Long run pace for FP2 in Austria on medium tyres
George Russell: 11.220
Kimi Antonelli: 11.265
Lando Norris: 11.466
Max Verstappen: 11.704
Lewis Hamilton: 11.773
Oscar Piastri: 11.777
Isack Hadjar: 11.910
Charles Leclerc: 12.116
6h ago
Daniel Valente 🏎️
@F1GuyDan
Fastest Sectors in FP2, via Multiviewer.
S1 - Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris, George Russell
S2 - Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Kimi Antonelli
S3 - Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris
Mercedes & McLaren make up the top 3 in all sectors.
6h ago
Vowles on Williams using curfew exception for new Mercedes ESME packs
Williams team principal James Vowles said the team used a curfew exception at the Austrian Grand Prix to fit updated Mercedes energy store main enclosure (ESME) parts that arrived late on Thursday. Vowles said: "We have new ESME packs, which I think Mercedes are pretty open about. We wanted to take that, but it only really appeared at 3pm on Thursday, and we had a tremendous amount of work to do. So I wanted to make sure the cars are properly prepared."
Why Williams broke curfew at the F1 Austrian Grand Prix
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Mekies on Red Bull's risk under FIA ADUO assessment
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies says there is a “large risk” the team will be unable to upgrade its power unit after the FIA’s ADUO assessment rated its combustion engine as the best. Mekies said: "There is a large risk there for Red Bull. It is one of the reasons why it is vital for Red Bull, and more generally for the sport, that we get that picture right."
“Large risk” Red Bull will be unable to upgrade engine due to FIA's ADUO decision – Mekies
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