Max Verstappen endured a tricky Friday at the Red Bull Ring. The Dutchman immediately ran into a double issue just minutes into FP1 in the morning, leaving the garage twice and stopping in the pit lane twice before finally being able to head out on track.

In the afternoon, during FP2, the four-time world champion encountered another rather unusual issue after reporting that something was wrong with his seat. Verstappen immediately returned to the pits, where the Red Bull mechanics checked the problem before sending him back out on track a few minutes later to finally get his session underway. He eventually finished with the fourth-fastest time.

Problems for the Red Bull drivers continued throughout the session. Verstappen was the first to report an engine issue through the apex of Turn 3, explaining that the engine was suffering a noticeable drop in RPM on every push lap. A short while later, Isack Hadjar reported what appeared to be the same issue in the very same corner, with his engineer confirming that the team would investigate the problem. The Frenchman finished the session in seventh, around two tenths adrift of his teammate.

"Look what happened there on the apex of Turn 3 with the engine? That's what happens on the push lap as well. The drop in RPM, it's clear," Verstappen said, whereas Hadjar added "You see? This is the story of Turn 3 today. Like, what was that again?!"

After an eventful opening phase that featured technical problems for both Cadillac drivers and an unusual seat issue for Verstappen, the second practice session gradually settled into its usual rhythm as attention turned to outright pace. Antonelli once again emerged as the benchmark, steadily improving throughout the qualifying simulations before ending FP2 on top with a 1:07.014, two tenths clear of Piastri.

Norris finished close behind after failing to improve on his final attempt, while Verstappen could only manage fourth, half a second off the pace. Russell struggled to match his teammate throughout the afternoon, ending up six tenths adrift, before the final ten minutes were dedicated to race simulations, where Mercedes, McLaren and Verstappen all showed closely matched long-run pace, with Ferrari appearing slightly further back.