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Spielberg (Austria), June 27 (IANS) George Russell continued his red-hot form after winning the Canadian Grand Prix, opening the Free Practice session of the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix, with a fastest lap of 1:05.542 at the Red Bull Ring. The Mercedes driver edged out home favourite Max Verstappen by just 0.065s, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri a further 0.155s back in third.

The session featured two debutants from Formula 2. Alex Dunne, leading the F2 standings, stepped into Lando Norris’ McLaren and made history as the first Irish driver to participate in an F1 weekend in over two decades. Dunne impressed with a P4 finish, just 0.224s off Russell’s benchmark. Ferrari also ran F2’s Dino Beganovic in place of Charles Leclerc, though mechanical issues hampered his running.

Verstappen, using a substitute race engineer with Gianpiero Lambiase off for the weekend, reported setup concerns and experienced a lock-up in his RB21. Meanwhile, teammate Yuki Tsunoda had a wide moment as he continued to struggle for consistency.

Lewis Hamilton's session was disrupted by a gearbox issue, forcing him back to the pits, while Beganovic’s Ferrari was seen up on stands with the floor removed. A couple of yellow flags briefly paused the action, triggered by spins from Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.

As the soft tyres came into play in the second half of the session, Russell's earlier benchmark held firm, despite drops of rain reported late on. Behind the top five, which included Alpine’s Pierre Gasly – Gabriel Bortoleto (P6) and rookie Kimi Antonelli (P11), also made notable appearances.

With unsettled weather looming, teams now turn their attention to preparing for FP2, set to begin later on Friday.

--IANS

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