George Russell claimed victory at the 2026 Austrian GP after converting pole position into a controlled win at the Red Bull Ring.
The Mercedes driver led from the opening lap and held off late pressure from Max Verstappen to take his first Grand Prix win since Australia in March.
Verstappen finished second for Red Bull, just 1.611 seconds behind Russell, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli third after a messy opening phase left him chasing back through the race.
Oscar Piastri finished fourth for McLaren, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, as Ferrari failed to turn its strong qualifying into a podium.
Below is the full classification from the 2026 Austrian GP.
2026 Austrian GP results
Here are the complete race results from the Red Bull Ring.
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| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | Leader |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +1.611 |
| 3 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +1.986 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +21.809 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +26.393 |
| 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | +29.399 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +31.505 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +45.659 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1 lap |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1 lap |
| 11 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1 lap |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1 lap |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1 lap |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1 lap |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1 lap |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 2 laps |
| 17 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 2 laps |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 3 laps |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | DNF |
| 20 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | DNF |
| 21 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | DNF |
| 22 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | DNF |
Russell converts pole into victory
Russell made the start he needed from pole and held the lead into Turn 1, while the cars behind immediately began to fight. Charles Leclerc ran wide as Hamilton moved through, and Antonelli also had a scruffy opening lap that dropped him behind the front runners.
From there, Russell had the race largely under control. He built an early gap while Hamilton, Verstappen, Leclerc and Antonelli fought behind, then managed the pit stop phases well enough to keep track position when the strategies began to split.
Verstappen became the main threat as the race developed, with Red Bull Racing showing much stronger race pace than it had managed across much of the season. The Dutchman closed in during the second stint and again late on, but Russell had enough in hand to absorb the pressure.
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer said on F1 TV that Mercedes and Russell had “called it really well”, adding that the Briton had absorbed the pressure and “stood up to the test.” That was exactly what Russell needed after losing ground to Antonelli across the opening part of the campaign.
Verstappen holds off Antonelli
Verstappen took second after a strong recovery from fifth on the grid, getting ahead of Hamilton after a fierce early battle between the two former title rivals.
The pair went wheel to wheel through Turns 3, 6 and 7, with Hamilton forcing Verstappen wide before the Red Bull Racing driver eventually made the move stick. The incident was noted by Race Control, but the battle underlined how closely matched Ferrari and Red Bull Racing were in the early phase.
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Antonelli then became the bigger late threat. After running wide multiple times early on and losing time behind Leclerc, the championship leader used a different tyre offset to fight back and closed onto the rear of Verstappen in the final laps.
He got within Overtake Mode range on the last lap, but never quite had enough to launch a decisive move. Verstappen held second by just 0.375 seconds from Antonelli, while Russell completed the win a little further up the road.
Austrian GP 2026 results FAQs
George Russell won the 2026 Austrian GP for Mercedes, finishing ahead of Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.
The podium was George Russell in first, Max Verstappen in second and Kimi Antonelli in third.
Lewis Hamilton finished fifth for Ferrari, behind Oscar Piastri and ahead of Isack Hadjar.
Max Verstappen finished second for Red Bull Racing, 1.611 seconds behind Russell.
Kimi Antonelli had a messy opening phase and ran wide several times, but recovered to finish third and almost passed Verstappen on the final lap.
No. Ferrari missed the podium, with Hamilton finishing fifth and Charles Leclerc eighth.
The top 10 was Russell, Verstappen, Antonelli, Piastri, Hamilton, Hadjar, Norris, Leclerc, Lawson and Lindblad.
Both Cadillac cars retired early, with Perez and Bottas suffering overheating brake issues.
