Race report
Formula 1 Austrian GP
F1 Austrian GP: George Russell holds off charging Max Verstappen to second 2026 F1 win
The pre-season title favourite has taken his first victory since the F1 2026 opener in Australia
Edited: Jun 28, 2026, 3:19 PM
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George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
George Russell finally claimed his second victory of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign by winning the Austrian Grand Prix from pole ahead of Max Verstappen.
The Mercedes driver crossed the line 1.6 seconds clear of the Red Bull world champion with Russell’s team-mate and title rival Kimi Antonelli completing the podium.
This has given Russell his first win since the Melbourne opener after an underwhelming start to 2026, as Antonelli ha taken five victories during that time to claim the championship lead.
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But the 19-year-old’s retirement in Barcelona last time out, which was won by Lewis Hamilton, gave Russell the perfect opportunity to claw back his deficit after finishing second in Spain.
The 28-year-old followed that up by snatching pole from Charles Leclerc at the Red Bull Ring after Verstappen’s late crash, with Hamilton and Antonelli behind on the second row.
All four started on the medium rubber and it was a frantic opening lap that saw Russell hold firm, Antonelli go wide at Turns 1 and 3, before Hamilton overtook Ferrari team-mate Leclerc at Turn 5.
That put the Monegasque immediately under pressure from Antonelli, who’d still managed to keep fourth, and the championship leader launched his attack at Turn 1 on the second lap.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
Although he briefly got ahead, he went off in the process much like lap one, so was forced to hand third back heading into Turn 3 but this opened the door for fifth-placed Verstappen.
The Red Bull driver therefore wasted no time in making progress by overtaking Antonelli at Turn 5, before passing Leclerc the following corner, and subsequently closing in on Hamilton.
This set up an aggressive fight between the former title rivals with Verstappen lunging down the inside of Turn 3 on lap 11, before Hamilton fought back at Turn 5 and completed his move the following corner.
It put Verstappen onto the gravel at the exit, prompting complaints from the four-time world champion, before the fight resumed after the first pit window where drivers all kept position.
On this occasion, however, Verstappen finally took second from Hamilton by again going down the inside of the Turn 3 hairpin on lap 22, before the Ferrari driver reclaimed position at Turn 5.
But having learnt from the previous occasion where he was on the outside into Turn 6, this time Verstappen moved down the inside of that corner to finally end the wheel-to-wheel battle.
It was only three laps later that Hamilton made his second pitstop though, moving from hards to softs, after Carlos Sainz suddenly lost power and stopped next to the pit wall to cause a VSC.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
Yet Hamilton’s rivals stayed out - though Antonelli pitted seconds before the VSC - and in clean air Verstappen began to close on leader Russell while drivers squabbled behind.
On lap 30, for example, Antonelli overtook Leclerc for third at Turn 5 before the Ferrari driver dropped into sixth behind Oscar Piastri and Hamilton just seven tours later.
By this point Ferrari had resigned to fighting in the mid-points positions, as the Mercedes pair and Verstappen had streaked clear come the second pit window.
It saw Russell stop for hards again on lap 44, just as Verstappen had got within two-seconds, but instead of instantly reacting, Red Bull opted to keep its Dutchman out for five extra tours.
That was ultimately the wrong decision though as Verstappen left the pitlane 10s behind Russell, who’d benefitted from fresher tyres during that window to all-but end hopes of Red Bull victory.
The Austrian outfit was therefore left ruing what could have been and despite the Dutchman closing the gap across the final stages, Russell had done enough to take victory.
But Antonelli wasn’t far behind Verstappen either, just 0.3s, after late pressure, while a further 19.823s off the podium was fourth-placed Piastri with Hamilton completing the top five.
Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar and McLaren’s Lando Norris completed late overtakes on Leclerc to take sixth and seventh, the Ferrari in eighth, while Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top 10.
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Formula 1Five quick takeaways from the F1 Austrian GP
Formula 1All the results and standings from the 2026 F1 Austrian Grand Prix
This leaves Antonelli top of the championship on 171 points, 40 clear of second-placed Russell, who has now moved ahead of third-placed Hamilton with 125 points.
F1 Austrian GP: Race result
All Stats
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine 1 G. Russell Mercedes 63
71
1:26'37.979
212.639 2 25 Mercedes Mercedes 2 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3
71
+1.611
1:26'39.590
1.611 212.573 2 18 Red Bull Red Bull 3
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
71
+1.986
1:26'39.965
0.375 212.557 2 15 Mercedes Mercedes 4 O. Piastri McLaren 81
71
+21.809
1:26'59.788
19.823 211.750 2 12 McLaren Mercedes 5 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
71
+26.393
1:27'04.372
4.584 211.564 3 10 Ferrari Ferrari 6 I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing 6
71
+29.399
1:27'07.378
3.006 211.443 2 8 Red Bull Red Bull 7 L. Norris McLaren 1
71
+31.505
1:27'09.484
2.106 211.358 2 6 McLaren Mercedes 8 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
71
+45.659
1:27'23.638
14.154 210.787 3 4 Ferrari Ferrari 9 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30
70
+1 Lap
1:26'53.313
1 Lap 209.026 2 2 RB Red Bull 10 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41
70
+1 Lap
1:26'57.009
3.696 208.878 2 1 RB Red Bull 11 G. Bortoleto Audi 5
70
+1 Lap
1:27'08.294
11.285 208.427 2 Audi Audi 12 N. Hulkenberg Audi 27
70
+1 Lap
1:27'16.463
8.169 208.102 2 Audi Audi 13 P. Gasly Alpine 10
70
+1 Lap
1:27'17.230
0.767 208.071 3 Alpine Mercedes 14 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
70
+1 Lap
1:27'40.656
23.426 207.145 2 Haas Ferrari 15 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
70
+1 Lap
1:27'43.626
2.970 207.028 2 Alpine Mercedes 16 E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31
69
+2 Laps
1:27'03.911
1 Lap 205.621 2 Haas Ferrari 17 A. Albon Williams 23
69
+2 Laps
1:27'06.061
2.150 205.536 2 Williams Mercedes 18 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
68
+3 Laps
1:26'42.812
1 Lap 203.461 2 Aston Martin Honda dnf L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
45
+26 Laps
58'08.585
23 Laps 200.763 2 Retirement Aston Martin Honda dnf C. Sainz Williams 55
23
+48 Laps
29'03.534
22 Laps 205.192 1 Retirement Williams Mercedes dnf S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team 11
4
+67 Laps
5'17.371
19 Laps 194.921 1 Retirement Cadillac Ferrari dnf V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team 77
2
+69 Laps
2'51.764
2 Laps 178.822 1 Retirement Cadillac Ferrari View full results
Photos from Austrian GP - Sunday
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Formula 1
57
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