F1 Today | Antonelli leaves Russell behind as Red Bull deliver key update on Verstappen's future

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli continued his impressive form by topping the timesheets once again during FP2 at the Austrian Grand Prix, completing a Mercedes one-two in the early stages of the qualifying simulations before ultimately extending his advantage over the rest of the field. Oscar Piastri emerged as his closest challenger, finishing two tenths adrift, while Lando Norris slotted into third. George Russell, meanwhile, endured a more difficult session, ending up six tenths slower than his teammate after struggling to piece together a competitive lap. Max Verstappen could do no better than fourth, half a second off Antonelli's benchmark.

The session was also interrupted by several technical issues. Sergio Perez's running came to an early end after just ten minutes when his Cadillac stopped on track, prompting a Virtual Safety Car to recover the stranded car. Verstappen also lost valuable track time after reporting an issue with his seat, forcing Red Bull mechanics to remove and adjust it before sending him back out. Cadillac then suffered another setback later in the session, with Valtteri Bottas slowing dramatically due to a technical problem, although the Finn managed to return to the pits under his own power.

Once the qualifying simulations concluded, the focus shifted to race pace for the final part of the session. Mercedes, McLaren and Verstappen all produced very similar long-run times, consistently lapping in the high 1:10s and low 1:11s, suggesting a closely matched battle at the front. Ferrari, however, appeared slightly further back on race pace, generally circulating in the mid-1:11 range.

Laurent Mekies has once again addressed the speculation surrounding Max Verstappen's future, making it clear that Red Bull does not view the Dutchman's commitment as a current concern. Speaking after fresh rumours linking Verstappen with a potential move to McLaren in a swap involving Oscar Piastri, the Red Bull CEO and team principal insisted that the four-time world champion has already made his intentions clear to the team.

Mekies stressed that Verstappen's main demand is straightforward: he wants a fast car. According to the Frenchman, Red Bull is fully focused on restoring performance both in the short and long term, with on-track progress the only real factor that matters. He also acknowledged the size of the gap the team still needs to close, while expressing hope that Red Bull can quickly move back within a few tenths of its main rivals.

The Red Bull boss added that Verstappen remains actively involved in the team's development work rather than simply waiting for guarantees over his future. Mekies pointed to the Dutchman's role in helping the engineers understand the right direction for the car, including through extensive testing work during practice, and underlined that Red Bull is not repeatedly asking him for reassurances about whether he intends to stay.