14:49
Piastri and Leclerc bang wheels at Turn 3. The McLaren driver gains a position, as Hamilton is forced to go all the way around the outside of Turn 6.
Leclerc pits at the end of Lap 37.
Red Bull has brought upgrades to its home race
LIVE
F1 Austrian GP LIVE: Russell leads as Hamilton attempts a three-stop Barcelona repeat
Live coverage of Sunday at the F1 Austrian Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Austrian weekend declared a 'Heat Hazard'
- Russell starts from pole position
- Verstappen crashed heavily in Q3
The eighth round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull Ring is a firm favourite among drivers and fans, with the long straights and heavy braking zones providing ample opportunities for overtaking action and, more importantly in the modern era, generating electrical energy back into the batteries.
Mercedes arrives in Austria looking to bounce back from a first defeat of the campaign, with Lewis Hamilton having toppled his former team in Barcelona with the assistance of a significant Ferrari upgrade package. However, Mercedes has been forced to remove some serrated edging on its diffuser in response to an FIA technical directive. While it is speculated that this will cost time, Mercedes believes the matter has been overplayed.
This weekend, it is Red Bull which brings the most new parts to the table, as the team attempts to pull closer to the top three outfits, having dropped back in recent weeks.
George Russell took pole position in dramatic fashion on Saturday, correctly identifying that single-waved yellow flags were being displayed after Max Verstappen had crashed in Q3. Despite lifting into Turn 9, he was still fast enough to deny Ferrari what had appeared to be a certain one-two for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. Kimi Antonelli starts from fourth.
In the heat, tyre wear is expected to play a significant factor in the race, potentially creating some strategy variation, as was seen last time out in Spain.
2026 Austrian Grand Prix Sunday schedule
Grand Prix: 2:00pm BST - 4:00pm BST
28 Jun 2026
14:48
Game on at the front. Russell has lost 0.8s to Verstappen this lap. The gap is just 2.2s, and the Red Bull driver needs no extra motivation!
14:48
Alonso has been noted for speeding...in an Aston Martin... That must be a typo.
But yes, pit lane speeding, and we suspect there is no fault in the measurement this time around.
14:45
"Mode race". Hamilton gets some good news!
14:43
Problems for Hamilton. He's been warned to go to "mode TS". He responds that he has no power already. We'll keep an eye on this one.
14:41
A very smooth move from Antonelli, as Hamilton makes his move on Hadjar. P3 and P6, respectively.
14:38
Antonelli is closing on Leclerc and it doens't look like this will take long to complete a move. Verstappen is slowly closing on Russell at the frotn, with the gap now at 4.7s, although there could be an element of Russell managing tyres involved there.
14:36
The VSC is over, and we're going again.
14:36
Hamilton was called in to pit but it was too late. They call one lap later and he's in this time. They've gone for a used set of soft tyres...an interesting call. He's in seventh, behind Hadjar.
14:35
Sainz had a complete gearbox failure there, as the telltale ping can be heard as he flicked up a gear.
14:34
Ferrari thinking about plan B, but this changes things. Sainz has stopped on the pit straight.
Antonelli stops, but the VSC comes out only AFTER his stop. A disaster. One more lap and that would have gifted him the lead.
14:33
Antonelli has still not stopped, but is reporting a long brake pedal. Could he be attempting the one-stop that Russell suggested might be possible? He's being caught rapidly by his team-mate on lap 24 though.
14:31
No messing about this time, Verstappen jams it down the inside into Turn 3, but Hamilton takes it back into Turn 4.
At Turn 6, Verstappen has a moment of understeer while throwing it in again. Hamilton has to avoid and loses out. The Ferrari driver has lost over a second already and he is really struggling.
14:28
Russell's lead has shrunk to two seconds.
Norris has been informed that McLaren is extending his stint. He doesn't seem keen on the idea.
14:27
In comes Verstappen. Russell had five seconds of margin, so has a few laps to react to the change.
Onto hard tyres for Verstappen. He comes out behind Hamilton, but has a decent amount of clean air to get his tyres up to temperature before attacking.
Russell is now called in.
14:24
Hold on a moment, Russell thinks a one-stop might be manageable! That would be a huge shock, unless he's trying to confuse the other teams.
14:23
Hamilton is making mincemeat of drivers in the lower points positions, scything through the pack on his way back to the front.
14:22
Another lockup for Verstappen at Turn 4. Hamilton is lapping faster than him right now, so he's too late to respond to that earlier stop.
14:21
Big news! Hamilton has been noted for forcing Verstappen off the track in their battle.
14:20
Verstappen has not responded to Hamilton's stop. Leclerc pits though, and fits the hard compound. A clear three-stop plan for both Ferraris.
14:19
Hamilton locks up into Turn 4 - not great news on an out lap.
14:19
Hamilton has bolted on a set of the hard compound tyres. He comes out in P11 behind Bortoleto. "Out lap critical" he is told.
14:18
Hamilton pits! While the TV is focused on replays...classic.
14:18
Verstappen believes Hamilton moved under braking and that it was a "clear penalty".
14:17
Mercedes has been warned that Verstappen could trigger an early pit stop phase in order to try an undercut on Hamilton. With another fresh set of mediums, and two sets of hards...but wait! On Turn 3 of Lap 11, Verstappen sends it and passes Hamilton!
Hamilton gets the place back at Turn 4 as Verstappen locks up, and they bang wheels as things shake out with the Ferrari still ahead. Here we go again!