The Formula 1 title race is turning into the ultimate battle of youth against experience.
On one side, Lewis Hamilton, who at 41 just became F1’s oldest race winner since 1970. An eighth world title would make him the oldest champion since 1957.
Oscar Piastri during practice in Austria. AP Photo/Darko Bandic
On the other, Kimi Antonelli, the 19-year-old Italian who leads the standings, on course to be the youngest ever to take the title.
“I’ve been here before. I know what I have to do, and there’s a long way to go,” Hamilton said ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, set to take place as a “heat hazard” race with hot weather baking Europe.
“We have a real battle on our hands, and it’s going to take everyone for the rest of the year to even come close to competing with (Mercedes), but I don’t think it’s impossible.”
The challenge was clear in practice.
Antonelli was fastest in both sessions, beating George Russell by 0.04 of a second in a Mercedes one-two in the first. The second session saw Antonelli head the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris by .237 and .325 respectively. Hamilton was fifth in both sessions.
It was a rough day for Cadillac as Sergio Perez stopped on the track in both sessions and Valtteri Bottas had a small fire underneath his car.
As track temperatures pushed past 60C, Russell said the tyres were “burning out there and going through hell”.
“It’s not easy to find a sweet spot here at all,” he said
“I think McLaren were really good straight out of the blocks. They were flying in FP1 and everyone seemed to have problems – Lando was in the garage, Lewis and Max too, so maybe that flattered us, but I think McLaren’s pace is a surprise.”
Piastri said his team had “a pretty good day”.
“We are still a step behind Mercedes, or Kimi at least, as we expected, but we tried a few things.
“We’ve done our homework and it’s been pretty good. Kimi’s second lap on the softs was impressive. We need to learn a few things from each other.”
Hamilton’s win at Barcelona two weeks ago, his first with Ferrari after a year and a half of frustration, brought together smart strategy, Mercedes’ reliability issues and innovation at Ferrari with key car parts that rivals have rushed to copy. Ferrari brought an upgraded engine to Austria, too.
Antonelli’s teammate Russell said he was surprised how fast Ferrari was developing its car under F1’s strict spending rules but “at the end of the day, we’re still the team to beat. So this will be another good weekend to see if Ferrari are still on that good form or if that was a one-off.”
Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Getty Images
Hamilton’s win just showed that anyone “writing him off” was wrong, said Russell, his teammate at Mercedes in 2024.
“For sure, he is a big threat. Ferrari are a huge threat. Kimi is still very much the driver out front and is performing really incredibly and consistently,” Russell said. “Ferrari feel like they’re coming and Lewis is at the forefront of that.”
Antonelli will want a better race in Austria this year than last.
Antonelli smashed into Max Verstappen, ending the race for both. Verstappen accepted Antonelli’s apology, saying “every driver has made a mistake like that” — though the points he lost that day arguably ended up costing him the title.
It was part of a disastrous run of summer results at European tracks for Antonelli, who admitted he felt overwhelmed by frustration. After Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff repeatedly called Antonelli’s performance “underwhelming” at his home Italian Grand Prix, it prompted speculation about his future. Then came the turnaround.
Antonelli used Wolff’s criticism as “fuel to do even better” and he did, scoring more points in the final eight rounds of the season than he had in the previous 16. That laid the foundations for his championship-leading breakout season in 2026.