George Russell snatched the fastest time in the final practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix, pipping Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli by just 0.038 seconds at the Red Bull Ring. The British driver’s late lap of 1:07.096 deposed the Italian, who had dominated Friday’s two sessions and looked set to continue his run of form. Lewis Hamilton, fresh from his first Ferrari victory in Barcelona, placed third, a mere 0.115 seconds off the pace, confirming that the Scuderia’s recent upgrade package has injected genuine one-lap speed.

Antonelli’s earlier command of the weekend had been emphatic. He topped both FP1 and FP2, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris emerging as his closest challengers in the second session. Yet the final practice revealed a more condensed field. Russell, who had been half a second adrift at one stage, found time on used soft tyres in the closing minutes, while Antonelli could not improve on his own benchmark. Behind the leading trio, Piastri and Norris took fourth and fifth, with Max Verstappen sixth for Red Bull, over three tenths from the ultimate pace. European analysts noted that the short, 4.326-kilometre circuit, with its blend of high-speed straights and rapid descending corners, continues to reward precise car balance, an area where Mercedes appears to hold a narrow advantage.

For Franco Colapinto, the Argentine Alpine driver, the day brought frustration. After a promising eighth in FP1, he slumped to 16th in FP2 and 14th in FP3, over a second off Russell’s pace. Colapinto tested a new front wing designed to improve high-speed cornering but found “almost no difference” between the old and new specifications. “The car felt very disconnected,” he told reporters. “In slow corners it did one thing, in fast corners the opposite. The changes were all for the worse.” His team-mate Pierre Gasly fared slightly better, ending FP3 in 11th, but the Enstone squad faces a long night of work. Latin American observers noted that Colapinto’s struggles mirrored those of other regional drivers: Brazil’s Gabriel Bortoleto placed 13th for Audi, while Mexico’s Sergio Pérez failed to set a representative time in FP2 after his Cadillac stopped on track with a loss of power, and he finished last in FP3.

In the support categories, Argentine hopes also dimmed. Nicolás Varrone qualified 22nd and last for the Formula 2 feature race, while 17-year-old Mattia Colnaghi took 18th on the grid for the Formula 3 sprint. Both will need substantial recovery drives to score points.

Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix is scheduled for 16:00 local time on Saturday, with the race on Sunday. Mercedes enters the session as the nominal favourite, but the tight margins in final practice suggest that McLaren and a resurgent Ferrari could yet disrupt the silver arrows’ bid for pole.