Race Notes - Russell wins in Austria

By Mark Karp

George Russell took his Mercedes GP to victory at the Austrian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen in the Red Bull-Ford finished second, 1.611 seconds behind.

World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished third in his Mercedes, 1.986 seconds behind the winner.

Russell’s win is his second of the 2026 season, seventh of his career, and his second win at the Red Bull Ring circuit (the first circuit he has repeated at).

Russell closes to 40 points behind his team mate Antonelli in the Drivers’ Championship, and moves up ahead of Lewis Hamilton (46 points behind) to second in the standings.

Merceds extends it’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship to 98 points ahead of Ferrari, followed by McLaren, Red Bull, Alpine, Racing Bulls and Haas.

Oscar Piastri (21.809s) in the McLaren-Mercedes finished fourth, followed by Hamilton (26.393s) in the Ferrari in fifth, Isack Hadar (29.399s) in the second Red Bull in sixth, Lando Norris (31.505s) in the second McLaren in seventh, Charles Leclerc (45.659s) in the second Ferrari in eighth, Liam Lawson (1 Lap) in the Racing Bulls-Ford in ninth, and his team mate Arvid Lindblad taking the final point in tenth place.

A hot day before the start (48 degrees C), with Russell on pole with Leclerc alongside on the front row, Hamilton and Antonelli line up on row 2, Verstappen and Norris on row 3, Piastri and Hadjar on row 4, and team mates Lawson and Lindblad round out the top ten,

All drivers on medium tyres, except Gabriel Bortoleto and Carlos Sainz starting on soft tyres.

At the appointed time the field came around on the formation lap, lined up on the grid, the lights went off and the race started with Russell taking the lead into turn 1.

At turn 2 Hamilton takes second place over Leclerc, and Verstappen follows. Antonelli battles with Piastri.

On lap 2 Russell leads Hamilton, Verstappen, Leclerc, Antonelli, Piastri, Norris, Lawson, Hadjar and Lindblad.

On lap 3 Bottas is out with a brake fire in the pits.

On lap 4 Hadjar and Lawson are battling.

On lap 5 Perez retires in the pits with brake issues.

On lap 7 Antonelli passes Leclerc for fourth place.

On lap 8 Russell leads Hamilton by 3.0s, over Verstappen (3.6s), Antonelli (6.5s), Leclerc (8.9s), Piastri (10.4s) and Norris (12.1s).

On lap 11 Verstappen passes Hamilton, but Hamilton retakes for second and the two continue to battle. Verstappen’s brakes suffering, Hamilton struggling with his rear tyres.

On lap 12 Hamilton pits from second and takes on hard tyres and rejoins 11th.

On lap 14 Leclerc pits for hard tyres and rejoins 11th.

On lap 19 Verstappen, Hadjar and Lindblad all pit.

Verstappen rejoins just behind Hamilton.

On lap 20 Russell pits from the lead for hard tyres and rejoins third.

Antonelli leads Norris, Russell, Hamilton, Verstappen, Leclerc, Piastri, Hadjar, Hulkenberg and Lawson in tenth.

On lap 21 Norris pits from second for hard tyres and rejoins eighth.

Hadjar sets fast lap at 1m11.268s.

Verstappen and Hamilton battling and takes third place.

Norris goes wide, but continues.

On lap 23 Russell sets fast lap at 1m11,226s.

On lap 25 Antonelli pits for hard tyres and rejoins fifth.

Sainz’s engine goes and he stops on the front straight and the Virtual Safety car is out.

On lap 26 Hamilton pits soft tyres.

On lap 27 Sainz’s car is cleared, and the Virtual Safety car is done.

Verstappen sets fast lap at 1m11.072s

On lap 28 Russell leads Verstappen (4.7s), Leclerc (12.9s), Antonelli (13.6s), Piastri (16.5s), Hajar (17.7s), Hamilton (17.9s), and Norris (25.0s).

On lap 30 Hamilton passes Hajar for sixth.

Antonelli passes Leclerc for third.

At half distance, on lap 35, Russell leads Verstappen by 2.3 seconds, ahead of Antonelli (10.3s), Leclerc (16.0s), Leclerc (16.1s), and Piastri (16.6s).

Hamilton is struggling with temperatures.

On lap 37 Leclerc pits for hard tyres and rejoins eighth.

On lap 40, Verstappen has closed on Russell to 1.2 seconds.

Hadjar pits and rejoins eighth.

On lap 42 Piastri pits from fifth, Hamilton pits as well, rejoining sixth and seventh.

On lap 44 Russell pits for hard tyres and rejoins third.

Verstappen leads over Antonelli (4.7s) and Russell (17.5s) behind.

On lap 45 Piastri sets fast lap at 1m10.595s.

On lap 48 Norris pits from fourth for hard tyres and rejoins in eighth.

Piastri passes Leclerc for fourth place.

On lap 50 Verstappen pits from the lead for hard tyres and rejoins in third.

On lap 52 Antonelli pits from the lead for hard tyres and rejoins in third.

Hamilton passes Leclerc for fifth.

The virtual safety car is out to clear a ballard, and the VSC is quickly ended.

At lap 55 Russell leads Verstappen by 8.6 seconds, followed by Antonelli (13.3s), Piastri (15.8s), Hamilton (19.2as), Leclerc (21.4s), Hadjar (22.1s), Norris (26.9s) in eighth.

Antonelli sets fast lap at 1m10.424s.

On lap 57 Hadjar passes Leclerc for sixth.

At lap 61, with 10 laps left, Russell leads Verstappen by 5.2 seconds, followed by Antonelli (8.5s), Piastri (16.5s), Hamilton (20.9s), Hadjar (25.7s), Norris (27.7s), Leclerc (51.7s), Lawson (1 Lap), and Lindblad in tenth.

On lap 66, with 5 laps left, Russell leads Verstappen by 3.8 seconds, and Antonelli (6.2s).

The order remains the same to the checkered flag, Russell, Verstappen and Antonelli.

Russell reports to the team that his drinks system was not working during the race.