George Russell wins Austrian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen charge comes up short

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Mercedes driver George Russell dominated the 2026 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix from pole position to secure his first victory since the season opener in Australia, and, as a result, his championship hopes have been revived.

The 2026 Austrian Grand Prix promised to be a hot one in both temperature and action. A heat hazard warning was issued prior to the start of the weekend, and with Mercedes’ George Russell starting on pole position with teammate Kimi Antonelli back in fourth and both Ferraris between them, we were set up for a wide-open race.

It was a clean run into turn 1 at the start, with the top five holding tight in their positions despite two long runs into the braking zone. Lewis Hamilton moved up from third to second, overtaking teammate Charles Leclerc midway through the first lap.

Antonelli launched up the inside of Leclerc heading into the start of the second lap, grabbing the position before once again running wide. It opened the door for Max Verstappen to sneak by Antonelli, then to launch past Leclerc for third on the grid after Saturday’s disastrous qualifying crash.

On Lap 3, Valtteri Bottas pulled into the pits to retire, reporting a brake fire. Liam Lawson, too, called up the team to report, “On fire!” from eighth, in the thick of a battle with Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. The two swapped positions through a handful of corners through Lap 4, with Lawson still reporting fire.

“I have a lot of smoke in the cockpit!” was word from Sergio Perez, who also pulled his Cadillac into the pits to retire on Lap 5.

On Lap 7, Kimi Antonelli took advantage of his energy deployment to secure fourth place from Charles Leclerc and start to pull away from the Ferrari, all as Max Verstappen chased down Lewis Hamilton in second. Oscar Piastri, too, snagged sixth place from McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

George Russell wins the Austrian Grand Prix! What was your main takeaway from the race?

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“Verstappen could trigger this early,” Russell was warned over the radio. “He is very close to Lewis. Every second we can get.”

At the same time, though, Verstappen reported, “I have really bad brake pulling.” On Lap 11, Verstappen pulled around his 2021 title rival to the delight of the crowd, only for Hamilton to swing by to hold second. The Red Bull driver took to the radio to call for a penalty after he was pushed wide and ran off the track.

Meanwhile, the biggest mover of the race at this point, 13 laps into the race, was Esteban Ocon, who had motored his Haas from 15th to 12th.

Lap 13 also saw Lewis Hamilton dive into the pits in an attempt to cover off an undercut threat from Verstappen. He made a swap to hard tyres and returned to the track in 11th. Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc followed suit on Lap 14, triggering other drivers like Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz to do the same.

On Lap 15, race control noted the incident between Hamilton and Verstappen at Turn 6 during which time Verstappen reported that he was forced off the track.

Verstappen made his pit stop on Lap 19, emerging from the pits in sixth, just behind Lewis Hamilton. One lap later, race leader Russell dove in for a tyre swap on the same lap as Piastri. Meanwhile, Norris was informed he’d be staying out to take advantage of the clean air, though the driver reported a lack of pace and needed to pit on Lap 22.

That same lap, Verstappen made a bold move to pass Ferrari’s Hamilton. Hamilton was able to defend and hold him off, but the Dutch driver didn’t hold back and instead swung past to secure third in the standings.

Meanwhile, new race leader Kimi Antonelli reported that his brake pedal was long, preventing him from being able to adequately modulate his pace. Later in the race, he asked race engineer Peter Bonnington what was happening and was informed he had “brake split,” where one brake is hotter than another.

On Lap 25, a yellow flag emerged because Carlos Sainz came to a halt on the front stretch, just as Antonelli pulled into the pits. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed while the Italian driver left the pits, signaling a miscommunication between Antonelli and the Mercedes pit box. Lewis Hamilton pulled into the pits on Lap 26 for another stop, this time moving to soft tyres. The VSC was lifted heading into Lap 27 as the marshals pushed the stricken Mercedes-powered machine into the pit lane.

When the Austrian Grand Prix resumed, it was Russell with a five-second lead over Verstappen, followed by Leclerc, Antonelli, and Piastri rounding out the top five.

On Lap 31, Antonelli made the move around Charles Leclerc for third, while Hamilton passed Hadjar to take sixth. Two laps later, he was instructed to activate “mode TS” as a result of high temperatures.

Oscar Piastri passed Charles Leclerc for fourth on Lap 38; Hamilton was able to make the most of that move to pass his Ferrari teammate. Leclerc opted to pull into the pits immediately after, while Ferrari instructed Hamilton to attempt to pass Piastri.

On Lap 42, Fernando Alonso was handed a five-second time penalty for speeding his Aston Martin through pit lane; down in 19th, however, it would not impact his result.

Meanwhile, Verstappen began hunting down Russell up in the lead, chopping down the gap.

Piastri and Hamilton both pitted on Lap 43; Russell pitted before Verstappen could initiate a battle, on Lap 44. He returned to the track in third, just behind his teammate. Two laps later, he began to strategize over the radio in hopes of finding his way back to the lead, suggesting that Antonelli pit to effectively force Verstappen to do so, as well.

On Lap 47, Aston Martin informed Lance Stroll, who was two laps down, to retire.

Max Verstappen pitted from the lead on Lap 50, reporting that his tyres were dead; that fact was obvious based on the fact that his pace had fallen off. Antonelli instead assumed the lead followed by Russell seven seconds behind; Verstappen returned to the track in third.

Antonelli made his final stop on Lap 52 of 71, returning to the track five seconds behind Verstappen. Once again, he came in just a moment too soon; a VSC was briefly deployed to allow a marshal to collect a bollard that Alex Albon had knocked onto the racing line.

In the closing stages of the race, Kimi Antonelli carved down the gap to Max Verstappen in P2, but he never had a chance to make the move. Russell took the checkered flag first, followed by Verstappen and Antonelli.