George Russell claimed his second victory of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign by winning the Austrian Grand Prix from pole ahead of Max Verstappen and chip into Kimi Antonelli’s championship lead.
The Mercedes driver crossed the line 1.6 seconds clear of the Red Bull driver with Russell’s team-mate and title rival Antonelli completing the podium.
This has given Russell his first win since the Melbourne opener after an underwhelming start to 2026, as Antonelli had taken five victories during that time to claim the championship lead.
But the 19-year-old’s retirement in Barcelona last time out, 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.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton 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 pitwall to cause a virtual safety car.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Guido De Bortoli / LAT Images via Getty Images
Hamilton’s rivals stayed out – though Antonelli had pitted seconds before the VSC – and in clean air Verstappen began to close on leader Russell while drivers squabbled behind.
On lap 30, 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 been 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, and how too much of a deficit to make up over the final stint.
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 at the finish, just 0.3s back, while a further 19.823s off the podium was fourth-placed Piastri as Hamilton completed the top five.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar and McLaren’s Lando Norris pulled off late overtakes on Leclerc to take sixth and seventh, with the Ferrari in eighth, while Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top 10.
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 who is on 125 points.
F1 Austrian GP – Race result
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– The Autosport.com Team
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