The weather forecast at the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian GP 2026 was already predicted to go up to 35°C, but the atmosphere got heated up further with a very late and controversial qualifying lap on Saturday from George Russell, right after Max had a crash, causing a yellow flag. That unexpected lap put the Brit at the top of the grid on Sunday, even though the validity of it was brought into question by many.
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This, coupled with the fact that his teammate Kimi only qualified P4, the youngster’s lowest starting position this season, the Austrian GP 2026 promised a fight for the top three steps of the podium.
Come Sunday, it delivered. So, let us break down all the major events that took place at the Austrian GP 2026.
George and Max’s return to the podium
After experiencing multiple weekends where he was outperformed by his 19-year-old teammate, George Russell stood on the top step of the podium for the second time after winning the season opener.
“The tough races definitely test you psychologically, and these last two weekends for me have been vitally important to remind myself I can do it.”
George Russell
This win earned him some very valuable 25 points that allowed him to overtake Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship standings. After the Austrian GP 2026, Kimi Antonelli only holds a 40-point lead over his more experienced teammate.
Next to Russell, Max Verstappen got his best result of the season yet when he crossed the line in second, making the updates that Red Bull did to the car seem like a step in the right direction. The 4-time World Champion had a crash in the last session of qualifying, leaving him to start from P5. This was also the crash that allowed George to complete the lap that earned him the pole position, while Kimi, mistaking the yellow flag for a double yellow flag, abandoned his attempt.
On the last step was Kimi Antonelli, who started from fourth and had his fair share of trouble during the race. The Italian struggled with track limits, going off the road on multiple occasions, and was also overtaken by Max pretty early in the race.
A good day for Piastri and Hadjar
Although only starting at P7, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri managed to get ahead of both the Ferraris and secure P4 for himself. But his teammate, the reigning World Champion, did not share his luck. Qualifying just ahead of Oscar at P7, Lando could not improve his finishing position. Overtaking Hamilton, but letting Isack get ahead of him, Lando finished in the same position he started the race in.
Isack, however, displayed decent pace in the second Red Bull, going up from P8 to P6.
Both the Racing Bulls mirrored Lando’s race and finished in the same position they started. Lawson crossed the finish line in ninth and Lindblad in ten, both earning points for the junior Red Bull team. But the two did share that they felt more comfortable with the car during this race.
“Honestly, the car’s been good all weekend. Compared to last week as well, we’ve definitely made a step in long run pace, so I’m very happy.”
Liam Lawson
The heat got to more than just the cars
The Ferrari drivers, Charles and Lewis, went into the race feeling pretty optimistic after qualifying P2 and P3, respectively. Unfortunately, the car’s pace was not as good as they expected, and they were also overtaken on lap 3.
After the disappointing start, Lewis only managed to finish in P5, while Charles had to settle for only P8.
“I don’t know why we were so slow today. We really struggled on pace, degradation was really, really high, much worse than anticipated.”
Lewis Hamilton
But despite that, we did see some exhilarating wheel-to-wheel action between Lewis and Max, where they overtook each other more than once.
Cadillac also had an unfortunate weekend at the Austrian GP 2026. Even after they introduced upgrades to their cars, Perez and Bottas both were not able to finish the race and retired the car, even 5 laps could be completed. The team has been facing reliability issues throughout their first season in F1.
The bad luck extended to Aston Martin and Williams, too. Stroll and Sainz both did not finish the race, and their respective teammates, Alonso and Albon finished last and second-last.
Despite showing improved pace, both Audi drivers, Bortoleto and Hülkenberg, still finished in P11 and P12, respectively, just outside of the points.
Which Mercedes will dominate at Silverstone?
While the rest of the grid’s results may seem inconsistent, Mercedes regularly continues to finish in strong positions this season. The team has had at least one driver on the podium during this season, and the Austrian GP 2026 was no different.
But even though Mercedes now have almost a 100-point lead in the Constructors’ Standings, the gap between their two drivers has decreased. Moving to Silverstone this weekend, which also happens to be George’s home race, it will be interesting to see how the team handles the Championship battle between the two.
