George Russell conceded that the pace of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri was a concern following Friday's practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix. 

Russell ended the second session in sixth place, with the Briton having finished second to Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli earlier in the day at Red Bull Ring. 

Championship leader Antonelli topped the timesheets and finished 0.237 seconds clear of Piastri, while reigning world champion Norris was almost a tenth further back in third. 

Having appeared closely matched to Antonelli in the first practice session, Russell crossed the line six tenths behind his team-mate, with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen both finishing ahead of him. 

Russell himself has been overtaken in the drivers' standings by Hamilton in recent weeks, with the Mercedes driver now 50 points behind leader Antonelli after seven races. 

The Mercedes driver had identified the seven-time world champion as a "huge threat" to his team's hopes of winning both championships in 2026 ahead of this weekend's action, but highlighted McLaren as the ones to watch in Austria. 

"FP1 was a very strong session for us both, we looked really good, and then straight out of the blocks in FP2, McLaren looked flying, to be honest," Russell said.

"Obviously, it was a disrupted session on my side, but their race pace, their single lap pace looks pretty decent.

"I think it was more everyone else had a pretty troubled [FP1] session. Every time I saw the TV screens, it was drivers in the garage with problems. Lando only got out at the end.

"I think Lewis had some problems, Max had some problems. So, I think that probably flattered our pace a bit in FP1, but things were feeling good.

"It was a real surprise just seeing that first lap of the McLarens in P2, just right at the top. And their race pace, especially on Lando's side, looked a bit better than ours."

Friday practice completed

Lots of learnings for the weekend ahead pic.twitter.com/aJpHAbHyaO

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) June 26, 2026

Russell has previously won in Austria, doing so in 2023, while he has also secured two of the last three pole positions, as many as he managed across the previous 18 races.

But Antonelli appears well-placed to rectify his retirement at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix last time out, a result that saw his championship lead cut to 41 points. 

However, the teenager could become the 56th driver in F1 history to record five or more pole positions in Saturday's qualifying, while he could also draw level with compatriot Giuseppe Farina as the Italian driver with the third-most poles in the history of the sport. 

And Antonelli felt confident about his chances of carrying on his momentum, though acknowledged the searing temperatures will play their part over the weekend. 

"It's been a clean and productive day for us," Antonelli added. 

"From FP1 onwards, I felt comfortable in the car, which gave us a good platform to work from as we built through the sessions.

"The hot conditions will continue to make things quite challenging, particularly in terms of tyre management.

"Keeping the tyres in the right working window without overheating is important, so that’s an area we'll continue to focus on.

"We've gathered a lot of useful information, but there's still work to do, and the picture will likely evolve overnight.

"We'll analyse everything in detail and focus on making the right improvements ahead of qualifying."