Russell won a close race for the 2026 Austrian GP

George Russell won a very close race at the 2026 Austrian GP. The Briton maintained the lead at the end, with Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli chasing him losing less than two seconds. The event at the Red Bull Ring brought a changed balance of power at the front.

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The 2026 Austrian GP was held in real heat, with track temperatures slightly exceeding 50 degrees Celsius. During the race, there were two short periods of virtual safety car, one for retrieving Sainz’s car, and the other for collecting a broken cone. Four drivers did not finish due to failures, at least two of which can be attributed to weather conditions.

Results of the 2026 Austrian GP

A close battle between Mercedes drivers and Verstappen for podium positions

The top three drivers finished the race within two seconds, so the competition between them was very close. George Russell led from the start from Pole Position for almost the entire distance, except for a few laps after each of his pit stops. Russell controlled the race pace and maintained a good tempo, but was seriously threatened for 2/3 of the distance. Looking closely at all lap times, the Briton appears to be the slowest driver among the TOP3. Of course, this could be because, while leading, he did not always push at 100%, whereas the other two drivers had to. Russell held firm at key moments of the race, made no mistakes, and Mercedes did not panic with strategy, which gave him a very important victory for the ongoing season competition. Update 29.06.2026 After a detailed look at the race lap times, I slightly change my opinion, as Russell recorded similar lap times at the end as at the beginning, when he had a car 60 kg heavier. In my opinion, Russell largely controlled his pace. Verstappen and Antonelli were faster at the end than at the start, so they pushed harder.

Max Verstappen started from fifth place, quickly moving up to third by taking advantage of the duel between Leclerc and Antonelli. Later, he chased Hamilton, with whom he had two battles on laps 11 and 12. In my opinion, this was a key moment for the Dutchman, as he lost about three seconds then, and when Hamilton pitted, at the end of lap 12 he was 6.1 seconds behind Russell. After his first pit stop, Verstappen was again behind Hamilton, overtaking him once more but losing time, though less than in the first duel. Verstappen made his first pit stop one lap before Russell, which allowed him to gain over a second. Overall, from lap 12 onwards, Verstappen was regularly slightly faster than Russell. Before the British driver’s second pit stop, the gap between them was 1.3 seconds. Russell defended the lead by making the second pit stop first among the leaders, which was the decisive moment. Red Bull kept Verstappen on track for six more laps. This indeed gave him a significant pace advantage at the end, but because of this, Russell increased the gap from 1.3 to 10.5 seconds, so the Dutchman had a lot to make up.

In my opinion, Verstappen could have won this race if everything had gone perfectly for him. The key was the time lost in battles with Hamilton and the too late second pit stop at the end. Red Bull should have risked an earlier second stop; that was a chance to get ahead of Russell. The facts are that Red Bull had great pace (as seen also by Hadjar’s result), and the major changes introduced in Austria worked. Next week we will see if this is just a track-specific thing or if it will be the same at other venues. This weekend’s course showed that their engine is very strong: all cars scored points. There are very good reasons for optimism.

Kimi Antonelli may regret his chaotic start to the race, where he missed several braking points. Instead of gaining positions, he fell behind Ferrari and Verstappen drivers. At the end of lap 12, he was 7.5 seconds behind Russell. Mercedes tried to play his race strategy differently because of this, pitting him five laps after Russell for the first stop, and eight laps after Russell for the second. Making later pit stops cost him many seconds each time, but he used fresher tires and made up for it all. He was the fastest on track among the leaders, catching Verstappen on the last lap but did not have time to attempt an attack. Antonelli could have won this race if luck had been on his side, as he made his first pit stop just before the virtual safety car appeared. If Mercedes had called him one lap later, he would have changed tires 10 seconds faster, which would have made him a favorite for victory.

This race was a perfect example that in close competition, track position is key, allowing a driver to calmly drive at their own pace. It recalls previous seasons when this was usually the most important factor. Qualifying is becoming more important, especially since the front runners no longer have problems at starts.

Toto Wolff said after the race that Mercedes has a significant package of aerodynamic upgrades in the wind tunnel, which on paper will give them considerable time gains, but they are not yet introducing it on track. This is due to budget cap issues and proper money management for this and next year. Wolff claims Ferrari has already spent much of their available budget this year, which will affect them in the second half of the season. Knowing previous seasons, Mercedes should introduce their second upgrade package in July; we will see if they dare to do so during the next weekend at Silverstone, where there will be a sprint.

Discussion of other front runners

Behind the top three, another battle was taking place, which Oscar Piastri won. The Australian secured fourth place, which was the maximum for McLaren. He deserves praise for effectively fighting in direct duels and escaping when needed. Lando Norris performed worse in this race, having brake problems from the start. His strategy was also not optimal, with the team extending his stints – they had nothing to lose. Ultimately, Norris was seventh. McLaren clearly lagged behind the top teams, falling behind in car development, and it is also visible that they lose due to the engine (probably related to choosing different gearbox ratios). They are preparing an important upgrade package, but it is unknown when it will be introduced.

Read more Hamilton fastest in sprint qualifying before the 2026 British GP

Ferrari was disappointing on one hand, but on the other, on a track where the engine is most important, the drop in form was predictable. Lewis Hamilton drove quite well and should have finished fourth, but they took a risk with strategy and he made an additional tire change during the VSC. However, on soft tires, he could not make up the time. Ferrari loses a lot on the engine side and additionally had wrong car setups, as tire degradation was higher than rivals, which is the opposite of Barcelona. Leclerc had another very unsuccessful race, with serious tire degradation, plus reportedly some engine problems and a damaged front wing in a duel with Piastri. Only eighth place on a track where he historically had great results.

Isack Hadjar deserves praise, finishing sixth with a small gap to Hamilton. Hadjar dropped to ninth at the start, almost the entire time driving close to rivals, so he could not drive at optimal pace. He overtook Norris and Leclerc, which is an achievement.

Discussion of other significant results

In no man’s land in this race were the Racing Bulls drivers. Lawson lost 35 seconds to Leclerc, so the top teams were out of their reach. On the other hand, Lindblad drove most of the race in tenth place, maintaining a safe gap over the Audi drivers. Racing Bulls have been performing very well for several weekends, with drivers regularly scoring points, becoming leaders of the midfield teams.

In the midfield, the gaps were quite large. Audi drivers made a nice breakthrough and finished just outside the top ten. I am positively surprised because the engine is very important on this track. It seems Audi is not lagging behind as much as expected due to this. Alpine tried to risk something with strategy, but Gasly’s third pit stop and tire change to softs during the VSC did not allow him to overtake Audi drivers. Alpine did not score points for the first time this year. Haas was slow, with no chance for points. Williams was terrible, not introducing upgrades, so rivals are pulling away. The slowest in the race was Alonso, who lost almost a minute to second-last Albon. Cadillac drivers retired at the very beginning because their brakes overheated. It seems that when designing the intakes, they did not anticipate close driving behind rivals, which was the cause.

Current overall standings after the Austrian GP can be found here. The gaps among the top drivers have decreased, and Russell returned to second place.

Summary

The competition at the front of F1 is changing this year, with only Mercedes regularly staying in the fight for wins, but with different rivals. Such fluctuations in the balance of power will continue due to different tracks and weather conditions. The Austrian GP was an interesting race, but far from the best this season, lacking direct duels and surprises.

Next week is the British GP, a sprint weekend. The Silverstone track under current technical regulations will look different than in previous years. Expect complaints about engines (drivers will have to lift off in some fast corners to charge the battery) and cars (they have significantly less downforce). Because of this, surprises may occur.

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