Max on P6 in third free practice of the Red Bull Ring

Published on 27 June 2026 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen has ended up sixth in the third free practice of the Austrian Grand Prix. The Oracle Red Bull Racing-driver, having run only qualifying simulation runs, set a time of 1:07.369 on soft tyres. This makes him 0.273 seconds slower than fastest man George Russell (Mercedes).  Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was second-fastest, with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on P3.

Today the temperature is once again rising above 30 degrees Celsius on the 4.326 meter long Red Bull Ring. At the start of the session, only Sergio Perez comes out on track, circling the circuit in his Cadillac. The Mexican is making up for lost time after not being able to head out during both FP1 and FP2 due to technical issues. The other drivers only trickle onto the track after about ten minutes.

After 20 minutes Max appears as one of the last drivers to take to the track on a set of soft tyres. In his first flying lap the Dutchman sets a 1:07.804 time, putting him on P2, only 0.271 seconds slower than fastest-man Kimi Antonelli. Later, both Ferraris and George Russell improve on Max’s time. Max runs another lap (1:07.74), putting him in P4.

After getting a new set of soft tyres, Max is back on track and improving his times. With a 1:07.607, Max is able to defend fourth place, right behind Charles Leclerc and George Russell, who are four-tenths behind Antonelli in first.

As the session crawls to the last fifteen minutes, many of the drivers drive out of the pits for a final stint, including Max. On a set of soft tyres, the Dutchman again improves on his fastest lap, improving to a 1.07.369. It doesn’t help him advance beyond P5, however, and the Red Bull driver is stuck behind Lando Norris. Moments later Oscar Piastri also ducks under Max’s time, meaning the top six are all within a quarter-of-a-second gap from one another. 

In the closing phases of the session, George Russell in his Mercedes sets a 1.07.069 time, locking in first place for this session, with Antonelli 38-thousandths of a second behind on P2. Lewis Hamilton comes home third, with the McLaren boys in P4 and P5. Max Verstappen ends up in sixth with sixteen laps to his name.

The Austrian Grand Prix's qualigying round will start at 16:00 PM.

Results third free practice Austria: