George Russell Holds Off Max Verstappen to Win the Austrian Grand Prix

SPIELBERG, Austria. George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix from pole (opens in a new tab) on Sunday, holding off Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing by 1.611 seconds at the Red Bull Ring. Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli was third, only 0.375 seconds behind Verstappen.

It was Russell's seventh career win, and it moved him back to second in the Drivers' Championship, 40 points behind Antonelli.

"Incredible to be back on the top step," Russell said. "It's been a little while so I'm definitely going to enjoy this one this evening. A lot of hard work from my team to get us back on track. Obviously there was a tricky run of form at one point. Max and Red Bull were incredibly quick this weekend, so kudos to them."

Verstappen recovers from a qualifying crash

Russell took pole despite lifting for yellow flags caused by Verstappen's crash late in qualifying. Antonelli started fourth after aborting his final lap.

Russell got away cleanly. Antonelli ran wide several times on the opening laps and had to hand back a position. Lewis Hamilton passed Charles Leclerc for second on Lap 1, and Verstappen moved up to third.

Verstappen and Hamilton then fought hard, with Verstappen briefly taking second on Lap 11 before Hamilton came back. Verstappen got ahead for good on Lap 22 after both had pitted.

Strategy shuffles the lead

Antonelli stayed out longest on his first set of tyres and led for a spell. He pitted on Lap 24 just before a Virtual Safety Car, called when Carlos Sainz stopped his Williams on the main straight, so he missed a cheaper stop and rejoined fifth.

Russell led again once the stops played out, but Verstappen kept cutting the gap. Russell made a second stop on Lap 44, and Verstappen pitted later and rejoined third, about 10 seconds behind Russell. Antonelli then led until his own final stop on Lap 52 and came out third.

In the closing laps, Verstappen cut into Russell's lead while Antonelli chased Verstappen. Antonelli got within half a second on the last lap, but Russell held on.

The rest of the order

Oscar Piastri was fourth for McLaren, ahead of Hamilton, Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris. Leclerc was eighth on a difficult day for Ferrari, and Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad took the last points for Racing Bulls.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg were 11th and 12th for Audi, followed by Pierre Gasly, Ollie Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso.

Lance Stroll retired with a suspected ERS issue and Sainz with a suspected electrical problem. Both Cadillac drivers, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, retired in the opening laps with overheating brakes.

The British Grand Prix follows on July 3 to 5.

For more, see Formula 1's race report (opens in a new tab).

This was Round 8 of the 2026 season. It came after Lewis Hamilton's first Ferrari win in Barcelona and before Charles Leclerc's British Grand Prix win. For the full title picture, see our 2026 F1 standings breakdown.

Sources: Formula 1. More Formula 1 coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: Richard Pardon / Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team