3 drivers could have won this race. Only one team got it right.

28 June 2026 · Austrian Grand Prix

Verstappen started P5 after a mechanical failure in qualifying wrecked his car, and he was past Antonelli by lap 2 and sitting behind Hamilton by lap 3. Antonelli had gone wide twice on the opening lap and dropped to fifth, which left him working his way back up for the rest of the afternoon.

What followed between Verstappen and Hamilton was proper racing for most of the first half, and the best of it came on lap 11, when Verstappen dived at Turn 3 and Hamilton squeezed him right to the edge at Turn 6. The stewards looked at it and let it go, hard but fair, and Verstappen eventually got past for good and set off after Russell.

On lap 25 Sainz's Williams stopped on track and the whole field had to slow while it was cleared, so Hamilton used that window to pit. Ferrari were planning three stops, the same approach that had worked in Barcelona, and he came out on softs, which are the fastest tyres but also the ones that wear out first. On a 52-degree track they did not last.

With about 26 laps left Russell pitted from the lead for fresh hards, while Red Bull tried to keep Verstappen out on a one-stop and his tyres gave up on him. He came on the radio to tell his engineer they were dead, and by the time he finally pitted he rejoined so far behind Russell that there was nothing left to do about it.

Then Verstappen closed fast with Antonelli right behind him, and by the end of the race all three were within touching distance, close enough that Verstappen had to defend on the final lap. Russell held every inch of it.

Elsewhere In The Grid

Hamilton dropped into traffic on those worn softs, got right behind Piastri and pushed for a few laps without ever finding a way through, and when they pitted together that settled it: Piastri P4, Hamilton P5.

Leclerc had it worse, telling his team over the radio that he had no pace, to bring him in again for softs, and that the car was horrible to drive.

They did as he asked, and even on new tyres he was still slow, finishing P8 with both Hadjar and Norris closing on him. Racing Bulls took P9 and P10 through Lawson and Lindblad, a quiet afternoon that still banked solid points.

Russell won because every call went his way while everyone else got theirs wrong: Red Bull misjudged Verstappen's strategy, Ferrari's tyres did not last, and Mercedes got Antonelli's race wrong as well. Russell simply stayed out of all of it. Antonelli leads the championship and Russell is winning races. This is a title fight now.