What the teams said – Race day at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix

Mercedes

Russell had a great getaway from pole on Sunday, and absorbed all the pressure from behind to lead the race through the first stint. He built enough of a gap to pit when it suited the team rather than being forced to react to others, and when all the stops shook out he had a 10-second lead from Verstappen in the closing stages. Russell managed that superbly despite the Dutchman closing in, to record his first Grand Prix win since Australia.

As for Antonelli, he had to work hard for his podium after a messy first few laps. The Italian ran wide and lost some places, having to then fight back through the field. He was left out long for his first stint which cost him some time, but he was rapid in the final one and closed right up to Verstappen, running out of laps to attack for P2.

Kimi Antonelli, 3rd

“It was not a straightforward race from my side. The first stint wasn’t where it needed to be and I struggled a bit with the brakes early on. After that, the pace was much better and I was able to get back into the fight. I think if we had a few more laps, it could have been an interesting battle for P2 at the end.

“Congratulations to George on the win today. He did a great job managing the race, especially in the final stint under pressure. It’s a strong result for the whole team to have both cars scoring well and bringing home good points.

“There is still a lot for me to learn, and this weekend has been a good reminder of that. I will take the lessons and come back stronger next weekend.

“I’m looking forward to Silverstone. It’s always a special circuit and, with it being a sprint weekend, it will be important to be on it from the first session.”

George Russell, 1st

“I’m really pleased with that result. It’s never straightforward around here and we were under pressure for much of the race, particularly in the final stint, so to convert pole into the win is very satisfying.

“The team did a great job with the strategy and gave me a car that I could manage well across the race. In those conditions, it’s about keeping things simple, focusing on just driving, and I think we executed that well today.

“It’s also great to score strong points together as a team. Kimi did a good job to recover and get himself back into the fight, which was important for the overall result.

“We know it’s very tight at the front and our competitors are pushing us hard, so we have to keep working to find more performance. For now, though, we can take the positives from this weekend and look ahead to Silverstone next week.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“It was a race where we were under constant pressure and closer to our competitors than we would have liked. Red Bull were very competitive, particularly in the final stint, and we had to manage that all the way to the line.

“George handled the race well. In those situations, it’s about keeping things simple and just driving, and he did exactly that without making mistakes when it mattered.

“Kimi also showed good resilience after the start. He recovered well, got himself back into the fight, and was applying pressure for P2 right to the end of the race.

“We scored strong points for the team today, but it also underlines how tight the competition is at the front and where we need to continue improving.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“Today was a great result for the team and a great result for George. It was good to see him take another well-deserved win and nice to have Kimi on the podium with him. It was one of those races where we were wishing it was a lap longer as it looked like Kimi had the pace to pass Max, but a podium is a solid result.

“The strategy team made good calls throughout the race. George was able to build a useful gap in the first stint, and we reacted well to cover the undercut threat from Verstappen heading into the final stint. Kimi also showed strong pace, making a good move on Leclerc early on and then using that to offset his strategy, which gave him the benefit of fresher tyres towards the end.

“End of stint performance was a key factor today. It looked like only Verstappen, and our two drivers were able to manage tyre degradation effectively as the stints went beyond 20 laps, which is encouraging, particularly heading into the hotter races where that will be tested further.

“It’s been a solid weekend in terms of points for the team, but it’s clear the field is very close. We’ll need to keep finding improvements and bringing performance if we want to maintain that position over the coming races.”