Antonelli Shines as Practice Chaos Unfolds

Wellington News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jun 26, 2026 · 1m

Kimi Antonelli stunned the grid with blistering lap times at the Austrian GP, outpacing both his teammate George Russell and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri across two practice sessions. As Mercedes seeks redemption after a win drought, McLaren showed strong pace with Norris gaining ground late, while Red Bull’s Verstappen battled car shake and teammate Hadjar faced an engine change. Ferrari’s Hamilton and Red Bull’s Verstappen rounded out the top five, but chaos lurked behind the scenes — Perez’s car stopped, Bottas’s caught fire, and a driver even clipped a mechanic in a bizarre pitlane mishap…