Toto Wolff says Max Verstappen was behind Red Bull Racing's strong performance in Austrian Grand Prix

Red Bull Racing brought a raft of upgrades in a bid to improve the performance of their RB22 at their home race in Spielberg, and while they had a shaky start in practice, Verstappen was in contention for pole until he crashed in Q3 of Qualifying, with the team blaming a loss of rear downforce for that.

With Verstappen starting the race in fifth while the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were second and third, respectively, the main threat for polesitter George Russell was expected to come from the Ferraris.

But that was not how the race transpired, as Verstappen had a great start that catapulted him into podium contention, and the pace he then showed throughout the race meant a win could have been possible.

But Mercedes and Russell had just enough in their armory to fend off the Dutchman, who ran out of laps in the end and had to settle for second place.

But Wolff hailed Verstappen, who he believed elevated the RB22's performance on the day, and when asked whether he was surprised with Red Bull's performance, the Austrian responded: "I'm not surprised at all.

"Red Bull is one thing, but it was Max Verstappen. For me, how it feels is like Max won every single race here that he's ever participated in, in whatever car. Spielberg is one of his strong places.

"The car seems to have been going well, and the Ferraris, I don't know what happened to them," he maintained.

With Verstappen currently seventh in the 2026 Formula 1 Drivers' Championship, he may not be a contender for the Title, but if he continues his strong performances, will he be able to play a role in the Championship battle George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, and probably Lewis Hamilton are involved in?

"Max is always good for playing a role in the championship," Wolff said. "That [Red Bull] car performed well this weekend.

"I think the biggest factor this weekend was Max, to be honest. He's able to bring out everything that is in that car. You can see that with his teammates.

"That's why you can never discount or underestimate the Verstappen factor for a championship," Wolff concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)