George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday, holding off a late charge from Max Verstappen to take his first victory since the season-opener. It was a tougher afternoon for Scuderia Ferrari HP, with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc forced into a largely defensive race, finishing fifth and eighth.
Both Ferrari drivers made strong starts, with Hamilton passing Leclerc on the opening lap, but it soon became clear the SF-26s could not match the pace of their closest rivals on the medium tyre, dropping behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen. In an effort to fight back, the team switched from a two-stop to a three-stop strategy, which did not work out. Hamilton was eventually overtaken by Oscar Piastri to finish fifth, while Leclerc dropped behind Lando Norris and Isack Hadjar to take eighth.
“It was an extremely hot and demanding race,” said Hamilton. “The team did a great job with the pitstops but it’s clear we’re still struggling on the straights, and tyre degradation was quite high, which made things challenging. We’ve got a week until Silverstone and will look at everything we learnt.”
Leclerc pointed to a setup that worked in qualifying but not in the race. “In the race, it was less effective and I struggled mainly with the rear, which caused me to slide around quite a bit. These new cars are very sensitive, so if you are not in the right window with the setup, you pay the consequence. We have a lot of work to do ahead of Silverstone.”
Team Principal Fred Vasseur said the team had been too focused on Mercedes. “We pushed hard in the opening laps and then reacted too aggressively with the strategy, trying to stay with them when, realistically, that wasn’t our race. We will learn from this and immediately turn our attention to the British Grand Prix.”
A Mercedes one-two ahead of the Ferraris
Russell took the chequered flag ahead of Verstappen, with Antonelli completing the podium for Mercedes in third place. Piastri finished fourth for McLaren, just ahead of Hamilton in fifth, while Hadjar brought his Red Bull home in sixth. Norris followed in seventh for McLaren, with Leclerc eighth for Ferrari, and the two Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounding out the top ten in ninth and tenth.
Formula 1 moves straight on to Silverstone next weekend for the British Grand Prix, Hamilton’s home race.
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Photo source: Scuderia Ferrari Media Centre