George Russell wins Austrian Grand Prix after gripping climax

Credit: FORMULA 1. George Russell celebrates victory as he looks to shrink the now 40-point gap to teammate Kimi Antonelli. 

George Russell took only his second win in 2026 with Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli finishing less than two second behind after nail-biting final laps.

A hot afternoon in the Styrian mountains made for a thrilling Grand Prix where Russell was mostly untroubled as he looked to mount a positive change of form. The Mercedes man did that in abundance as he converted pole position to victory in Austria.

Second place for Max Verstappen marked the four-time champion’s best result of the season so far despite a big crash in qualifying saw him start fifth. The Dutchman stormed through the pack with newfound speed, notably battling Lewis Hamilton early on in a thrilling fight that rolled back the years.

Kimi Antonelli was the fastest on track by the end and fresh rubber saw him push Verstappen within arm’s reach of Russell only for the chequered flag to save Russell from any potential threat.

Oscar Piastri finished fourth for McLaren in a good weekend for the Australian, beating Lewis Hamilton in fifth.

Hamilton couldn’t match his heroics in Barcelona despite pipping teammate Charles Leclerc for second during the opening stint in a first display of Ferrari’s new engine upgrades. However, the temperature worked against these upgrades and halted the Briton’s progress.

Isack Hadjar finished sixth for Red Bull ahead of last year’s winner Lando Norris who had a quiet and underwhelming race for McLaren.

Charles Leclerc was forced to keep his eyes fixed to his rear-view mirrors despite an optimistic front row start – eventually finishing down in eighth.

Racing Bulls finished the best of the rest and secured the remaining points scoring positions. Liam Lawson finished the higher of the two after an internal pit strategy saw the Kiwi undercut teammate Arvid Lindblad for ninth.

Audi’s pair of Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg finished eleventh and twelfth respectively – an unwanted spot the team seem to consistently occupy.

Pierre Gasly finished in P13 for Alpine after strategy prevented him from progressing further. Haas’ Ollie Bearman finished behind in fourteenth ahead of the other Alpine of Franco Colapinto in fifteenth.

Esteban Ocon (Haas) finished sixteenth from Alex Albon (Williams) in P17. Fernando Alonso dragged his Aston Martin to round out the finishers in eighteenth.

Carlos Sainz retired after the engine in his Williams car cut out, bringing out the virtual safety car mid-race which provided a headache for team strategists along the pitlane.

The two Cadillacs suffered a terrible race as both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas retired with overheated brakes within the opening five laps.

The F1 circus continues next week at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.