2026 Austrian Grand Prix

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
2026 Austrian Grand Prix
Race 8 of 22 in the 2026 Formula One World Championship
← Previous raceNext race →
Layout of the Red Bull Ring, Austria
Layout of the Red Bull Ring, Austria
Race details[1]
Date 28 June 2026
Official name Formula 1 Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix 2026
Location Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.326 km (2.688 miles)
Distance 71 laps, 307.018 km (190.772 miles)
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:06.113

The 2026 Austrian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix 2026) is a Formula One motor race scheduled to be held on 28 June 2026 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. It is the eighth round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship.

George Russell (Mercedes) took pole position for the race, ahead of the Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Russell set his fastest lap under local yellow flags following a late crash by Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at turn 9, but retained pole position after the stewards determined that he had sufficiently reduced his speed through the affected sector.

Background

The event will be held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg for the twenty-second time in the circuit's history, having previously held two editions of the Styrian Grand Prix, across the weekend of 26–28 June.[2][1][3] It is due to be the eighth round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship and the 39th running of the Austrian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[4]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Kimi Antonelli leads the Drivers' Championship with 156 points, 41 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second, and 50 ahead of George Russell in third. Mercedes, with 262 points, leads the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and McLaren, who are second and third with 190 and 141 points, respectively.[5]

Entrants

The drivers and teams are the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[6]

During the first practice session, six teams fielded alternate drivers who had not raced in more than two Grands Prix, as required by the Formula One regulations:[7]

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds—the softest three in their range (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively)—for teams to use at the event.[14]

Practice

Three free practice sessions are being held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 26 June 2026, at 13:30 local time (UTC+2), and was topped by Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) ahead of his teammate George Russell and Oscar Piastri (McLaren). A red flag was observed in the closing minutes of the session due to Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) stopping on track. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 17:00 local time, and was topped by Antonelli ahead of Piastri and Lando Norris (McLaren). The third free practice session was held on 27 June 2026, at 12:30 local time, and was topped by Russell ahead of Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari).[1][15]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 27 June 2026, at 16:00 local time (UTC+2), and determined the starting grid order for the race.[1][15]

Qualifying report

Qualifying was held in hot conditions at the Red Bull Ring. Mercedes entered the session as the team to beat after topping all three practice sessions.[16][17]

Esteban Ocon was the first driver to set a timed lap in Q1, before Nico Hülkenberg and then Russell moved to the top of the timesheets. Antonelli subsequently led the segment, ahead of Lando Norris and Hamilton, while Russell initially struggled for balance and reported that all four wheels were sliding.[16] The final runs produced a closely contested battle for Q2 progression. Liam Lawson improved to fourth, while Russell recovered to fifth, but Carlos Sainz Jr. lost time with a slide through the final corner and missed the Q2 cut. His Williams team-mate Alexander Albon also failed to progress after an error at turn 1, making it a double Q1 elimination for the team.[18][19] The two Cadillacs of Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas were eliminated in nineteenth and twentieth, despite the team's update package, while Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll placed twenty-first and twenty-second for Aston Martin.[16][20]

Antonelli again headed the field in Q2, with the two McLarens of Piastri and Norris following closely behind.[17][21] Max Verstappen completed only one push lap, after Red Bull elected not to send him back out in order to preserve an additional set of fresh soft tyres for Q3. The decision left Verstappen vulnerable as he slipped to tenth while rivals improved; Pierre Gasly was the final driver capable of eliminating him.[19][18] Gasly was eliminated in eleventh, followed by Gabriel Bortoleto, Oliver Bearman, Hülkenberg, Ocon and Franco Colapinto, who suffered a snap at turn 1 on his final attempt.[16][22]

Norris set the initial benchmark in Q3, before Verstappen responded with the fastest lap of the weekend to that point. Antonelli then beat Verstappen to take provisional pole, with Russell behind his Mercedes teammate. Hamilton ran wide at turn 3 on his first Q3 attempt and did not set a time, leaving him with a single remaining opportunity in the final runs.[23][21] Hamilton subsequently moved to provisional, only for Leclerc to take the first position.[17][22]

The session changed when Verstappen lost control of his Red Bull at turn 9 during his final attempt and crashed into the barriers. The incident produced local yellow flags as Russell approached the final sector. Antonelli abandoned his lap after believing that double-waved yellow flags had been shown, while Russell continued after reducing speed through the affected marshal sector.[16][24] Russell completed the lap, resulting faster than Leclerc. The stewards determined that no further investigation was necessary after concluding that Russell had encountered a single yellow flag and had lifted sufficiently; the result left his pole position intact.[25][26][27][28]

Russell's lap secured his fourth pole position of the season and his first at the Austrian Grand Prix. Mercedes remained unbeaten in Grand Prix qualifying in 2026, taking pole for the eighth consecutive round, while Leclerc and Hamilton gave Ferrari second and third on the grid.[23][26] By outqualifying Antonelli, Russell drew the Mercedes drivers' Grand Prix qualifying head-to-head to 4–4 for the season; Antonelli had entered the weekend leading 4–3.[29][17]

Qualifying classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1:07.398 1:06.979 1:06.113 1
2 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:07.543 1:07.030 1:06.349 2
3 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:07.290 1:06.994 1:06.408 3
4 12 Italy Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:07.083 1:06.763 1:06.414 4
5 3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford 1:07.407 1:07.183 1:06.475 5
6 1 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:07.259 1:06.897 1:06.502 6
7 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:07.487 1:06.890 1:06.511 7
8 6 France Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford 1:07.408 1:07.086 1:06.632 8
9 30 New Zealand Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford 1:07.385 1:07.136 1:06.955 9
10 41 United Kingdom Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford 1:07.549 1:07.155 1:07.007 10
11 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:08.038 1:07.223 N/A 11
12 5 Brazil Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:08.035 1:07.293 N/A 12
13 87 United Kingdom Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:08.061 1:07.523 N/A 13
14 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:08.066 1:07.611 N/A 14
15 31 France Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:08.231 1:07.817 N/A 15
16 43 Argentina Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:07.894 1:08.171 N/A 16
17 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Atlassian Williams-Mercedes 1:08.252 N/A N/A 17
18 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Atlassian Williams-Mercedes 1:08.509 N/A N/A 18
19 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:08.945 N/A N/A 19
20 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:09.030 N/A N/A 20
21 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Honda 1:09.942 N/A N/A 21
22 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Honda 1:10.363 N/A N/A 22
107% time: 1:11.778
Sources:[30][31]

Race

The race is scheduled to be held on 28 June 2026, at 15:00 local time (UTC+2), and is set to be run for 71 laps.[1][15]

See also

References

  1. "2026 Austrian Grand Prix – F1 Race". Formula 1. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  2. "Spielberg". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
  3. "F1 Schedule 2026 – Official Calendar of Grand Prix Races". Formula 1. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  4. "Grands Prix Austria". StatsF1. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  5. "Barcelona-Catalunya 2026 – Championship". Stats F1. 7 June 2026. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  6. Holter, Felix; Baquelaine, Loïc; Lamy, Pedro; Singer, Wilhelm (26 June 2026). "2026 Austrian Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 26 June 2026.
  7. "2026 Formula One Regulations – Section B: Sporting Regulations – Issue 7" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 25 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  8. "Williams reserve driver Browning handed FP1 outings in Barcelona and Austria". Formula 1. 9 June 2026. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  9. "Crawford to get another FP1 outing with Aston Martin in Austria". Formula 1. 19 June 2026. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  10. "Paul Aron set for FP1 with Audi in Barcelona and Spielberg". Formula 2. 10 June 2026. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  11. "Haas, Hirakawa nelle FP1 in Austria al posto di Ocon" (in Italian). FormulaPassion. 22 June 2026. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  12. "Liam Lawson to miss Austrian GP first practice as Racing Bulls confirm change". racingnews365.com. 24 June 2026. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  13. "Leclerc ai box nelle FP1 dell'Austria, in pista ci sarà Beganovic" (in Italian). FormulaPassion. 24 June 2026. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  14. "Red Bull at home: the Spielberg weekend". Pirelli. 23 June 2026. Retrieved 23 June 2026.
  15. "Formula 1 Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix 2026 – Full timetable". Formula 1. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
  16. "Russell beats Leclerc and Hamilton to Austrian GP pole after dramatic late Verstappen crash". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  17. "2026 Austrian Grand Prix – Final Qualifying Classification" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  18. Suttill, Josh (27 June 2026). "Russell takes controversial Austria pole as Verstappen crashes out". The Race. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  19. Hardy, Ed (27 June 2026). "F1 Austrian GP: George Russell avoids investigation to take pole after Max Verstappen crash". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  20. "Austrian GP: George Russell takes controversial pole as Max Verstappen crashes in dramatic qualifying". Sky Sports. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  21. Nichol, Jake (27 June 2026). "George Russell survives major confusion for Austria pole after huge Max Verstappen crash". RacingNews365. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  22. Woodhouse, Jamie (27 June 2026). "Austrian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen crashes as Russell snatches dramatic pole". PlanetF1.com. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  23. "Russell snatches controversial Austrian Grand Prix pole after Verstappen's late crash". The Guardian. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  24. Cleeren, Filip (27 June 2026). "Why George Russell escaped investigation for yellow flag Austria GP pole lap". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  25. "Controversy in Austrian GP qualifying as Russell sets fastest time after Verstappen crash". Associated Press. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  26. "Russell takes pole for Austrian GP as Verstappen crashes". Reuters. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  27. Beaver, Victoria (27 June 2026). "George Russell grabs controversial F1 Austrian GP pole following Max Verstappen's crash". Road & Track. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  28. "Austrian Grand Prix F1 starting grid 2026 as Russell keeps pole". The Race. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  29. Valantine, Henry (13 June 2026). "F1 2026: Head-to-head qualifying records between teammates". PlanetF1.com. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  30. "Formula 1 Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix 2026 – Qualifying". Formula 1. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  31. "Formula 1 Lenovo Austrian Grand Prix 2026 – Starting grid". Formula 1. 27 June 2026. Retrieved 28 June 2026.