Regardless of their important lead within the System 1 Constructors’ Championship standings, McLaren launched a set of upgrades for the Austrian Grand Prix, aiming to unlock much more efficiency from the MCL39.
The early returns are greater than constructive.
After Oscar Piastri and growth driver Alex Dunne posted the third- and fourth-fastest occasions in FP1, Piastri and Lando Norris took to the observe for the second hour of apply Friday on the Crimson Bull Ring. The pair topped the timing sheets with a powerful efficiency, as Norris went quickest with a lap time of 1:04.580 on a set of sentimental tires adopted by Piastri in P2, simply 0.157 seconds off Norris’ tempo.
Max Verstappen was third, 0.318 seconds behind Norris. Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc rounded out the highest 5.
George Russell, who was quickest in FP1, completed sixth within the second session.
Listed below are the total outcomes from FP2 on the Austrian Grand Prix:
FP2 Outcomes 2025 Austrian Grand Prix
| Postion | Driver | Crew | Time | Hole |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postion | Driver | Crew | Time | Hole |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:04.580 | — |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:04.737 | +0.157 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Crimson Bull | 1:04.898 | +0.318 |
| 4 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:05.022 | +0.442 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:05.190 | +0.610 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:05.229 | +0.649 |
| 7 | Yuki Tsunoda | Crimson Bull | 1:05.292 | +0.712 |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 1:05.411 | +0.831 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:05.457 | +0.877 |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:05.511 | +0.931 |
| 11 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:05.537 | +0.957 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | VCARB | 1:05.543 | +0.963 |
| 13 | Isack Hadjar | VCARB | 1:05.547 | +0.967 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:05.613 | +1.033 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:05.698 | +1.118 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:05.765 | +1.185 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams | 1:05.814 | +1.234 |
| 18 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:05.835 | +1.255 |
| 19 | Nico Hülkenberg | Sauber | 1:05.918 | +1.338 |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:06.176 | +1.596 |
In response to McLaren, the workforce introduced three totally different “efficiency” upgrades to the Austrian Grand Prix: Modifications to the entrance suspension, the entrance nook of the MCL39, and the rear nook of the MCL39. The workforce believes that the upgrades will generate “total enchancment of clow situation which ends up in an aerodynamic efficiency acquire.”
Experiences from Austria point out that the upgrades are aimed toward serving to Norris get a deal with on the MCL39.
“There’s clearly much more element that we get within the debriefs from Lando,” McLaren Technical Director of Engineering Neil Houldey stated. “I believe we’ve received an understanding of what he wants to enhance the automotive, and a few of the upgrades that we’ve received have been biased in the direction of his feedback.
“As you’d anticipate, you’re making an attempt to work out what the drivers want, and also you tailor your upgrades to swimsuit them, however I believe we’ve received understanding of what he does want, and we’re in a position to make small enhancements in a lot of areas that may and have helped him over the previous couple of races, and can proceed to assist him shifting ahead.”
The McLaren engineer then elaborated on what Norris desires from the MCL39.
“It’s nearly having the ability, for him, to have the ability to really feel the tires on the restrict just a little bit higher,” Houldey stated. “So we’ve simply made some small kinematic changes that we all know might be higher.
“That they had some small negatives that we didn’t essentially need to introduce at first of the 12 months. Operating earlier on within the season gave us confidence that, really, that wasn’t going to be an issue, so we have been in a position to introduce this variation with none actual concern that it wouldn’t be any worse and ought to be higher.
“With all of this stuff we’re looking for the most effective of a lot of totally different situations and it was the identical with the suspension. We have been involved in a single space, we labored out that wasn’t a priority in the course of the season and you’re simply buying and selling issues to attempt to discover essentially the most optimum efficiency – which, for Lando, we expect we’ve now discovered.”
The early returns are overwhelmingly constructive, however Fridays have been variety to Norris this season. The true problem comes tomorrow, as qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix begins. Norris has been dominant at occasions on Fridays and within the first two segments of qualifying this season, however didn’t put collectively the lap he wanted in Q3.
We’ll see if that modifications tomorrow at Crimson Bull Ring.
