Hello and welcome to this Total Motorsport live blog for Free Practice 1 at the F1 2025 Austrian GP from the iconic Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
The Formula 1 paddock arrives in the Styrian hills with championship storylines intensifying and the battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at full throttle. McLaren lead the way in both championships, but with Mercedes and Red Bull closing in, every lap in Austria counts.
The Red Bull Ring’s short, high-speed layout always produces close times and strategic intrigue. With changeable weather and relentless elevation changes, teams must optimize both setup and tyre strategy. Can local hero Max Verstappen deliver for Red Bull at their home race, or will the recent momentum from George Russell and the Mercedes camp continue after their Montreal triumph?
Total-Motorsport.com’s F1 2025 Austrian GP live updates for Free Practice 1 will bring you real-time news, team developments, and the first on-track clues for the weekend ahead. Stay with us as we bring you all the latest from Spielberg.
F1 Austrian GP 2025 Free Practice 1 LIVE: Latest Updates
End of FP1 in Austria
The chequered flag is flying to signal the end of FP1 in Austria, and the most recent race-winner, Russell, holds onto top spot and looks just as comfortable here as he did in Canada.
The top three is completed by Verstappen and Piastri, whilst the man of the moment is Alex Dunne who borrowed Lando Norris’ McLaren for this session. He ends up in P4 and looked incredibly assured at what is always regarded as a very tricky track.
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Not a good session for Ferrari. Rookie Dino Beganovic didn’t get as much time on track as he would have liked thanks to a mechanical issue, whilst Hamilton couldn’t find pace until moving to P9 on the soft. He also had a gearbox issue which stole some time.
10 minutes to go
George Russell is reporting some rain drops on track and the sky is certainly much darker now. This track is known for sudden weather changes but there’s not much of this session to go now so don’t expect to see any wet-weather running in FP1.
18 minutes to go
More and more drivers are heading onto the soft tyre now and the times are ramping up. George Russell is still on top with a 1:05.542, but Verstappen is less than a tenth behind now.
The McLaren’s have started to turn the wick up after doing a lot of aero work earlier in the session, with Piastri in P3 and Dunne putting in a great time to go P4.
27 minutes to go
We have the first spin of the weekend. Fernando Alonso was busy cruising through the final corners of his outlap as he got ready for a push on the soft tyre, and then he lit them up in the final turn and spun his Aston Martin around.
Brief yellow flag but everyone avoided the Spaniard and the action resumes.
30 minutes to go
Good news for Ferrari, Hamilton is now back out on track. The same cannot be said for Beganovic yet. Hamilton has some work to do as he’s yet to put in any lap times of real note, sitting in P16.
A word for Gabriel Bortoleto who, whilst on the soft tyre, has moved up to P2.
36 minutes to go
Lewis Hamilton has been forced into the pits with a gearbox issue and the mechanics have now swarmed that Ferrari to try and asses the damage. To make matters worse, Beganovic’s Ferrari is in the pits with the nose off and there is frantic work happening on that car too.
Carlos Sainz has moved up to P2 in his Williams, although he did have a big adventure into the run-off area at the penultimate bend and then headed into the pits.
43 minutes to go
Plenty of unhappy drivers out there at the moment. Yuki Tsunoda, Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen all with plenty of negative feedback for their engineers so far. The two Mercedes currently sit top of the timing sheet despite being on the hards, with Verstappen the fastest medium-tyre runner.
50 minutes to go
Verstappen is looking like a frantic man on track so far, with a couple of ventures into the run-off area and he’s just locked up into Turn 1. He doesn’t seem to be happy with the braking on that Red Bull right now.
52 minutes to go
There are plenty of cars, such as Max Verstappen in his Red Bull and Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes, who are running extremely low and kicking up a huge amount of sparks and dust.
George Russell has the fastest time so far despite being one of only a handful of drivers on the hard tyre.
Cars on track in Austria
Oscar Piastri is straight out to do some serious aero testing as his McLaren is decked out with extra sensors. His teammate is Alex Dunne for this session, who takes the place of Lando Norris.
Ferrari have also handed this session to a youngster, with Dino Beganovic taking Charles Leclerc’s seat.
15 minutes until the green light
Not long now until we have cars on track for the first time at the 2025 Austrian GP, and the weather is looking nice and bright at the Red Bull Ring at the moment. The Ferrari’s could be the cars to watch in FP1, with some new upgrades creating a bit of excitement…
Where to Watch 2025 Austrian GP FP1
For fans in the United States, Free Practice 1 will be broadcast live on ESPN2, with streaming available via the ESPN app and ESPN+ for subscribers.
In the United Kingdom, every session, including FP1, is shown live on Sky Sports F1. Australian viewers can watch FP1 on Fox Sports 506 (via Foxtel) and stream it on Kayo Sports.
Fans in other regions can also access live coverage through F1 TV Pro where available.
What time is FP1 at the 2025 Austrian GP?
Free Practice 1 at the 2025 Austrian GP is scheduled for Friday, June 27. The session begins at 1:30pm local time (CEST) in Austria.
That means FP1 at the 2025 Austrian GP begins at 12:30pm for fans in the UK, while those in the USA can catch Practice 1 at 7:30am ET and a very early 4:30am PT on the West Coast. Down Under, it’s a 9:30pm AEST start.
