F1 Standings 2026 After The Austrian Grand Prix
George Russell of Mercedes reclaimed second place in the world championship after securing victory at the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.
Starting from pole position, the Englishman held his ground from the lights out, fighting off challenges throughout the 71-lap race to eventually secure his second win of the season with a margin of 1.611s and get himself back into title contention.
Max Verstappen climbed up the field from his fifth-place grid start to secure second place in his Red Bull - his best finishing result so far this season.
The Dutchman engaged in an intense duel with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton on his way to snatch P2 and also fended off a late challenge from current championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
The Mercedes youngster settled for third place and was only 0.375s off the pace of Verstappen, having made mistakes early on when he ran wide three times in the opening laps while trying to improve from P4.
Oscar Piastri took fourth place for McLaren ahead of Hamilton and Isack Hadjar in the other Red Bull, while defending champion Lando Norris locked in seventh in the second McLaren and Charles Leclerc settled for a disappointing eighth for the Scuderia.
Rounding out the points were Racing Bulls’ duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, who scored ninth and 10th respectively.
With eight rounds now complete, Antonelli holds a 40-point advantage over Russell in the standings while third-place Hamilton sits just six points behind his former teammate and 46 points off the lead.
Despite the advantage, Antonelli’s results in the last two races have put his maiden title bid under a bit of pressure.
After going five consecutive races unbeaten, the Italian man walked away from Barcelona empty-handed after suffering a DNF in the final laps of the race due to an engine failure while his title rivals picked up valuable points to chip away at his lead. The 19-year-old could have also had a chance to fight for the win yesterday in Spielberg if not for a shaky start to the race and a less-than-ideal qualifying position, managing 15 points for his P3 finish at the end.
Now both Russell and Barcelona race winner Hamilton will be aiming to put even more pressure on Antonelli in the upcoming rounds and turn the 2026 title conversation on its head.
The next round of the 2026 season is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, scheduled for July 3-5.