Austrian Grand Prix Takeaways: George Russell's pivotal weekend
F1 OpinionTuesday, 30 June 2026 at 10:08
George Russell finally managed to put a perfect weekend together by winning the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix from pole. The last time he did so was in the season-opening race in Melbourne back in March.
It was far from a straightforward weekend for the Briton, especially with how the weekend progressed with Kimi Antonelli enjoying an early advantage, not to mention the late drama in Qualifying while Max Verstappen emerged as a serious threat during the race.
Overall, it was quite an interesting weekend, with Ferrari falling flat following the highs of Barcelona while McLaren remained confusing and confused, competitive at times, and anonymous when it mattered.
For the second weekend in a row, Mercedes' rivals brought upgrades, but the eight-time Formula 1 Constructors' Champions somehow retained the edge or limited the damage.
So it will be interesting when the W17 finally gets a major upgrade, but for now let's focus on the Austrian Grand Prix and its Takeaways, starting with Russell.
Finally some hope
Poor George finally caught a break in Austria last weekend and managed to take a second win this season as he stepped closer to Antonelli in the F1 Drivers' Championship.
With Ferrari faltering, Russell is now back to second place in the standings and a reasonable 40 points behind his teammate, a gap that can be closed at this point.
But the Briton had to work hard for this result and used his experience very well, starting from Qualifying and carrying that into the race.
In Qualifying, Russell's understanding of the letter of the regulations and his attentiveness that it was a single Yellow after Verstappen's crash meant that he slowed down just enough to escape a penalty while also putting in a pole lap. That also showed how good a lap he was on, and despite lifting, he was over two tenths clear of Charles Leclerc.
On the other hand, Antonelli misinterpreted the Yellow lights and aborted his lap, qualifying fourth but can be pleased he finished on the podium, limiting the damage while also learning another important lesson.
Back to Russell, he did well to overcome Antonelli's early advantage and signaled his intent after topping FP3.
Qualifying was not straightforward as he struggled in Q2, which required the "Just Drive" shot in the arm from boss Toto Wolff. That was magic as Russell went on to take pole in tricky conditions.
He was even better in the race, keeping the lead and delivering a clinical drive on a day when Verstappen and his upgraded RB22 were the better race package.
Mistakes are easy to happen at the Red Bull Ring, and Russell kept it clean to take the win, sending a warning to Antonelli and delivering a huge mental boost for himself.
Russell will be hoping that he has finally turned the page...
What could've been
Verstappen must be kicking himself after his Qualifying crash. Had he started the Grand Prix higher up the grid, a win would have been a serious prospect given how close he came to Russell on Sunday.
Red Bull said there was a loss of rear downforce that caused the Dutchman's crash, so let's take their word for it.
However, in the race, Verstappen was as impressive as ever with a great launch propelling him up the order into the podium positions, and as the race progressed, the pace he showed meant a victory was on the cards.
But unlike Barcelona, where they reacted to Ferrari's strategic offenses, Mercedes kept a cool head in Austria, pushing Red Bull Racing into reacting to their strategy calls as the latter were not as sharp as they have historically been at the pit wall.
When Verstappen finally caught Russell ahead of the second pit stops, Mercedes pulled the trigger, and Red Bull Racing could've done that before. They also could've pitted Verstappen soon after Russell, which meant he could've emerged close behind the #63 Mercedes with a smaller gap to close.
None of that happened, and Verstappen was left with an insurmountable gap, while in the end he had to worry about Antonelli catching him.
Don't get me wrong, a podium after the early-season struggles was a great result for Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, whose latest RB22 upgrade seemed to have done the trick after the false improvement from their Miami package.
But there is now doubt that both Verstappen and his team leave their home race with an inevitable sense of what could've been.
A sobering weekend for Ferrari and Hamilton
After the peaks of Barcelona, Ferrari had a tough weekend in Austria with the power unit upgrade not delivering a considerable effect.
Neither Hamilton nor Leclerc posed a genuine threat from the start of the weekend, the latter once again struggling compared to his teammate.
In Qualifying, both Ferrari drivers delivered strong laps which flattered to deceive, as the picture would have been totally different had Verstappen and Antonelli completed their Q3 laps. Russell beat them despite lifting!
Ferrari's lighting starts are now a distant memory, and while Hamilton remained in the mix for some time, Leclerc dropped off early on.
While the seven-time F1 Champion had some great battles with his 2021 nemesis, the Ferrari simply went through its tyres too fast while also suffering from overheating, with Hamilton's engineer instructing him to switch engine modes to cool down the car several times during the race.
Ferrari tried something different with Hamilton, switching him to a three-stopper when the Virtual Safety Car came out after Carlos Sainz's Williams expired. That, however, was not enough and just meant he finished fifth while Leclerc dropped like a stone and finished an ultimate eighth.
The only positive was that Hamilton drove a great race despite the SF-26's shortcomings, proving his resurgence has not faded.
Leclerc, on the other hand, struggled and still has some serious head-scratching to do if he wants to recapture his form.
As for Ferrari, they need to sort out that power unit. More power!
Austrian Grand Prix Quick Hits
- Cadillac! What a joke. Valtteri Bottas was out on Lap 3 with smoking brakes, while Sergio Perez's lasted two more laps.
Granted, they brought another upgrade, but they couldn't bolt it well together with Bottas' floor dropping and catching fire during practice while Perez couldn't have a decent practice session with the same issue—reportedly an ignition problem—recurring. - A decent weekend for Racing Bulls with a double-points finish, with Liam Lawson enjoying an advantage over Arvid Lindblad.
- Audi insist they have the fourth best chassis on the grid but consistently fail to show that. They were out of the points.
- What is going on with McLaren? They started the weekend closest to Mercedes, then showed some flashes of pace in Qualifying only to flop when it mattered.
Ferrari's struggles made them look better in the race. - Another messy weekend for Haas as the team are still unable to get on top of their car.
- A quick mention for Fernando Alonso. You have to applaud his relentlessness, enduring such a car and not parking it and heading for an early bath. He was three laps down...
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