Mercedes’ George Russell kept Max Verstappen off the top of the time sheets with the fastest lap in first Friday practice for the Austrian Grand Prix while Ireland’s Alex Dunne made an impressive Formula One debut with McLaren.
Formula Two leader Dunne, taking Lando Norris’s McLaren for the season as part of the team’s obligation to give track time to young drivers, was fourth fastest and only 0.069 slower than Piastri.
Dunne, still only 19 and the first Irish driver in 22 years to take part in a grand prix weekend, thanked the team over the radio as the chequered flag fell.
“A little boy’s dream came true, and this is definitely the best day of my life,” he said. “Thank you everyone for letting me do this, and thanks to Lando as well for trusting me with his car.”
[ Alex Dunne interview: ‘I always wanted to be an F1 driver. I’m not that far away’Opens in new window ]
Russell, winner from pole position in Canada two weeks ago, lapped the Red Bull Ring with a best time of one minute 05.542 seconds.
Red Bull’s reigning world champion Verstappen, five times a winner at Spielberg and without regular race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase for the weekend due to personal reasons with Simon Rennie taking over, was 0.065 slower.
McLaren’s Formula One leader Oscar Piastri was third, 0.155 off the pace.
Norris, 22 points behind Piastri after 10 of 24 races, will be back for the second session – his first time on track since he collided with his Australian team-mate in Canada while challenging for fourth place.
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Austria has the shortest lap of the year in terms of time and all but 20th-placed Haas driver Oliver Bearman were within a second of Russell.
Pierre Gasly was fifth for Alpine with Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto sixth for Sauber and Alex Albon seventh for Williams ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was ninth as Ferrari had a difficult start to their preparations with both cars in the garage during the session with mechanics working on floor and gearbox.
Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc sat out the session with Swedish reserve Dino Beganovic getting some track time and finishing 18th.
Isack Hadjar made it seven different teams in the top 10 with the 10th fastest lap for Racing Bulls.
Fernando Alonso had a big spin in his Aston Martin but kept the car out of the barriers.
