Russell leads Verstappen in messy FP1 at Red Bull RIng

George Russell followed up on his Canadian Grand Prix victory by setting the pace in opening practice for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

Looking to build on his success in Montreal, Russell recorded a lap of 1m5.542s to put his Mercedes top of the times ahead of rival Max Verstappen, who was 0.065s adrift.

Russell reported raindrops towards the end of the hour-long session in the Styrian mountains and that, coupled with traffic over the short lap, meant nobody could challenge the Briton’s time late on.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri was third fastest, with McLaren team-mate Lando Norris watching on from the pit wall as Irishman Alex Dunne contested his first F1 session.

Dunne leads the F2 standings and impressed on his F1 debut, coming home in fourth and just 0.069s behind Piastri.

“I want to say a massive thank you for making a little boy’s dream come true, this is definitely the best day of my life, and thanks to Lando as well for trusting me with this car,” Dunne said over the team radio at the end of the session.

The other rookie running in FP1 was Dino Beganovic, taking over the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc for what was another largely frustrating session for the Scuderia.

Lewis Hamilton’s running was compromised by an early gearbox issue, and he was ninth overall, with Beganovic down in 18th as only the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman set slower times.

Another world champion had issues, as Fernando Alonso bemoaned the “worst outlap we could do,” as he spun his Aston Martin at the final corner, asking too much from the soft tyres.

Pierre Gasly finished fifth for Alpine with Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto catching the eye up in sixth ahead of Williams pair Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz, while Isack Hadjar rounded out the top 10.

F1 Austrian Grand Prix FP1 results