RUSSELL STRIKES BACK IN AUSTRIA

FORMULA1 WKLY 16 | AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX

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RUSSELL BACK ON TOP IN AUSTRIA

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George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix from pole, his second victory of the season and his seventh career win. He held off a fast-charging Max Verstappen to the flag, with the gap just 1.6 seconds.

Kimi Antonelli finished third after a messy start where he ran wide twice. He still leads the championship, but Russell cut the gap to 40 points.

Russell said the tough recent races tested him psychologically, and this win helped him reset heading into the second half of the season.

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VERSTAPPEN SHINES WITH RED BULL UPGRADE

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Red Bull brought a big upgrade package to their home race, and Verstappen delivered his best result of 2026. He crashed in Qualifying and started P5, but fought back to finish P2.

He closed to within a second of Russell mid-race before a late stop cost him track position. Verstappen called it "extremely positive" for the team.

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MCLAREN BEATS BOTH FERRARIS

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Oscar Piastri finished P4, ahead of both Ferraris, and called it a surprise given how strong Ferrari looked in qualifying. He said the hot conditions at the Red Bull Ring tend to suit McLaren.

Lando Norris had a tougher day. He lost places on Lap 1 and got stuck behind Isack Hadjar after McLaren pitted Piastri first. He finished P7.

Norris said the car was strong in clean air, but track position ruled the race. He and Piastri are now separated by just one point in the standings.

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MERCEDES HOLDS BACK ITS ENGINE UPGRADE

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Mercedes fitted fresh power units for Russell and Antonelli in Austria, but confirmed none of it was a performance upgrade. It was new parts plus reliability fixes, aimed at the battery failures that hit Russell in Canada and Antonelli in Barcelona.

Team boss Toto Wolff said there's no upgrade planned for now, even though Mercedes has an upgrade token available. Ferrari and Audi have already used theirs.

That's bad news for Red Bull, who can't unlock their own upgrade token until a rival's engine overtakes theirs by 2 percent on FIA data.

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NEXT RACE PREVIEW

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July 3-5 · Silverstone Circuit · Round 9

It's a sprint weekend and a home race for five drivers, including Hamilton, Norris, Russell, Bearman, and Lindblad.

Hamilton is chasing a record-extending tenth British GP win in front of his own crowd, while Norris won here last year.

With Mercedes dominant and Red Bull now on the charge, the fight for the podium looks wide open.

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WHAT TO WATCH FOR

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FAST FACTS

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Sprint Distance: 100km
Sprint Laps: 17
Circuit Length: 5.891km
Race Distance: 306.198km
Number of Laps: 52
Fastest Lap: 1:27.097, Verstappen (2020)
First Grand Prix: 1950

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DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

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CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

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