Title challenger Lando Norris topped second practice ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix but believes rival Max Verstappen will get closer at the weekend.

Norris missed the first practice session after McLaren chose to fulfil one of their obligated rookie sessions, giving Irish teenager Alex Dunne an opportunity in the car.

George Russell, fresh off his first victory of the season last time out in Canada, topped the first session on Friday ahead of the McLaren drivers.

But Norris was not affected by missing out on the opening session as he led second practice with a time of 1:04:580, 0.157secs faster than team-mate Oscar Piastri.

There were 0.649secs separating Norris and sixth-place Russell in the second session, but the Mercedes driver set his soft-tyre lap earlier than his fellow Brit.

Lance Stroll unexpectedly finished fourth in the Aston Martin, behind Verstappen but ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton struggled for pace down in 10th.

And the seven-time world champion faced a post-race investigation for impeding Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, but received a warning, escaping serious punishment.

McLaren upgraded their front suspension coming into this race week, helping them get an advantage on the rest of the track, but Norris expects the likes of Verstappen to be quicker on Saturday.

"The car felt good from the off," said Norris. "Alex gave good feedback this morning after FP1, and he was on the pace straightaway, so it was good to see.

"I think they moved the car in the right direction for FP2, and we just need to understand whether we want more of that [on Saturday], or a little bit less, or somewhere in the middle. So good steps in the right direction, but still a little bit more to come, hopefully.

"We've shown a bit more pace than some of the others. I certainly think they're going to catch up. Max is not far behind, and they usually improve a lot into Saturday.”

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Russell is expected to be one of the biggest threats to McLaren this weekend, alongside Verstappen.

Russell won in Austria last year, while Verstappen has the most wins at the Red Bull Ring, with four. He also has the most podiums (six), pole positions (four) and fastest laps (four) at this Grand Prix.

Despite last year's victory, the Brit feels the McLaren drivers might be too fast for him this time around.

"First practice was definitely a surprise to us," said Russell. "Second practice, we definitely didn't have the pace like we did this morning in the qualy runs. And the race pace was a step worse, so we need to analyse where that was.

"The McLarens were mighty strong, especially this afternoon. I don't really see that changing. We'll do our best, but I don't really think we'll be fighting for pole."