Max fourth after Friday practice in Austria

Published on 26 June 2026 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen clocked the fourth fastest lap in the second Friday practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli set the pace, ahead of the two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

“It was a difficult day to find the right balance", said Max after FP2. We need to work on the grip of the front and rear. We have to find the right compromise to find pace, because it looks like we’re lacking. We’ll see what we can do.”

It is a warm day at the Red Bull Ring with track temperatures in the high forties and ambient temps in the lower thirties. Despite this, many drivers take to the track when the session gets underway. Max is one of them and heads out on a set of medium tyres. His first timed lap puts him sixth.

Ten minutes into the session, Sergio Perez’s Cadillac had ground to a halt. The Mexican already suffered technical issues in FP1 and Perez’s running will once again be curtailed in FP2. To retrieve the stricken Cadillac, the Virtual Safety car is summoned for ten minutes before the session gets back underway.

At the halfway point, another Cadillac is in trouble. This time, Valtteri Bottas is the victim as his Cadillac crawls back to the pits with a car that scrapes across the track surface. The Finn manages to nurse the car back to the pits, where the mechanics get to work.

Meanwhile, Max has gone into the pits to change to the soft Pirelli tyres. Many other drivers have done so already and the lap times are suitable dropping. Antonelli sets the quickest lap of the session (1:17.014). Max has to settle for P4, half a second of the Italian’s benchmark effort.

Results second free practice Austria: