George Russell tops charts in first practice for Austrian Grand Prix

George Russell picked up where he left off by finishing fastest in first practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Russell took his first win of the season last time out in Canada and the Mercedes driver raised hope of a second victory in as many races by topping the time charts at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.

Russell saw off Max Verstappen by 0.065 seconds, with championship leader Oscar Piastri third. Lando Norris sat out the first running of the weekend as Ireland’s Alex Dunne was handed his Formula One debut.

Dunne, 19, finished fourth, less than a tenth shy of Piastri, with Norris due to return to his cockpit for the second session later on Friday.

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton suffered a gearbox problem before ending the one-hour running in ninth, half-a-second adrift.

Russell won from pole position in Montreal to take just the fourth win of his career and move to 62 points behind championship leader Piastri.

And the Englishman, whose contract with Mercedes expires at the end of the season, looks set to be among the major players again this weekend after setting the early pace.

Although Verstappen finished second, his Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda ran off the track at turn three and finished only 17th of the 20 runners, seven tenths behind.

Norris trails Piastri by 22 points in the standings after his collision with his McLaren team-mate in Montreal.

Norris watched the opening session from the McLaren pit-wall, with Dunne becoming the first Irishman since Ralph Firman in 2003 to take part in an F1 event.

“A little boy’s dream came true,” said McLaren development driver and Formula Two championship leader Dunne over the radio. “This is the best day of my life.”

Norris will be back in action when the day’s concluding session gets under way at 17:00 local time (16:00 BST).