Formula One heads to Austria this weekend with the 2026 season finally looking properly competitive.
Mercedes lead the constructors’ championship and Kimi Antonelli heads the drivers’ standings, but Barcelona changed the championship picture.
Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win for Ferrari, cutting Antonelli’s points advantage. In Austria, Red Bull will introduce a major upgrade at their home race, and McLaren have a chance to re-enter the fight at the front.
The race is held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, a short, fast circuit that is easy to underestimate. Built into the Styrian hills, it climbs sharply through the first half of the lap before dropping into a fast, sweeping final sector where one mistake can ruin the whole run.
The altitude, almost 700 metres above sea level, places extra strain on the power unit and turbo, while the mix of long straights and heavy braking makes it a circuit that rewards efficiency as much as commitment.
Here are the best storylines going into the weekend.
Can Hamilton make Ferrari believe again?
Hamilton’s victory in Spain was the first non-Mercedes grand prix win since 2024, and his first in Ferrari red. It ended Ferrari’s 34-race wait for a victory and moved the seven-time world champion up to second in the drivers’ standings, 41 points behind Antonelli.
Now Ferrari have to show that performance wasn’t a fluke and that they can challenge Mercedes on more than one type of circuit. Barcelona rewarded downforce and tyre management; Austria is more about power delivery, traction and efficiency on the straights, which makes this weekend a better measure of Ferrari’s wider potential.
Ferrari are set to introduce their first ADUO engine upgrade in Austria, with the changes understood to be modest, perhaps worth less than 10 horsepower, but useful at altitude and on a track with long acceleration zones. Hamilton has avoided big title claims, saying: “It is very, very hard to think long-term at the moment. I think it’s just about taking it one race at a time, one week at a time.”
Charles Leclerc also needs a clean weekend. His pace has rarely been in doubt, but recent errors and reliability problems have strengthened Hamilton’s position inside Ferrari. Austria has been one of Leclerc’s strongest circuits, with five podiums at Spielberg, including victory in 2022.
Mercedes need to stop giving points away
Mercedes remain the strongest team of 2026. They won the first six grands prix, Antonelli leads the championship, and George Russell is third. However, issues with reliability have been troubling.
Antonelli was heading for another major result in Barcelona before losing power while running second. Russell had already suffered a costly retirement in Canada. Mercedes' two works cars have now suffered failures in three races, while customer team McLaren have also been hit by Mercedes-related reliability problems this season.
Toto Wolff has been direct about the weakness. “Our Achilles heel so far has been reliability,” he said. “We have lost a large amount of points across both cars in recent races; if we don’t put together clean weekends, our competitors will happily take advantage.”
Austria gives Mercedes little margin for error. The lap is short, qualifying gaps are usually tight, and even a small issue can leave a driver with too much to recover. Mercedes are bringing updates focused on performance and reliability, which tells you where their concern lies.
Russell took pole in Barcelona, but his race became complicated once he and Antonelli started fighting each other. Wolff said Mercedes lost time to Hamilton in that phase, before the Virtual Safety Car helped the Ferrari driver rejoin ahead after his final stop.
Russell was also compromised by an incorrect front wing adjustment at his final pit stop. Wolff has since admitted Mercedes may need to rethink how freely their drivers race each other when another team is close enough to take advantage.
Red Bull need upgrade to deliver at home
The Austrian Grand Prix is Red Bull’s home race, but this year the team is feeling the pressure. Max Verstappen is seventh in the drivers’ standings, Red Bull are fourth in the constructors’ championship, and the RB22 has been behind Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren across the opening part of the season.
That makes their Red Bull Ring upgrade one of the main talking points of the weekend. Red Bull are expected to bring their largest upgrade package since Miami, with aerodynamic changes and weight-saving work aimed at moving the RB22 closer to the minimum weight limit. Reducing that excess should improve lap time and give the engineers more freedom with set-up.
Verstappen is excited for the home race due to his happy memories there: “We have a new package we are bringing, so it is exciting to see how much this could give us in lap time.”
His future also continues to dominate the headlines. Verstappen is signed until 2028, but his deal is believed to contain exit clauses, and his manager, Raymond Vermeulen, has made clear that the priority is a car capable of winning. A strong showing in Austria would show Red Bull can still respond technically.
Isack Hadjar is worth watching as well. His race pace has been impressive, but poor starts have cost him positions. He said after Barcelona: “We need to work on our starts because it's not possible to keep going like that every race weekend.”
Can McLaren turn Austria into a comeback?
McLaren looked like Mercedes’ main threat earlier in the season, especially after their Miami sprint one-two finish. Since then, Ferrari have gained ground, Hamilton has won, and McLaren have had to recover from difficult weekends in Monaco and Canada.
Austria should suit them better. Lando Norris took his first F1 podium at the Red Bull Ring in 2020 and won last year’s race there on his way to the title. The team also bring new parts, including minor updates around the rear corners and an experimental rear wing for Friday's practice.
That rear wing is one of the most interesting technical items of the weekend. Ferrari and Red Bull have already used versions of the concept, where the rear wing flap rotates into an inverted position to reduce drag on the straights. McLaren are now testing their own version, although it may not race immediately.
Technical director Neil Houldey said: “Austria has historically been a strong track for us, and while we take nothing for granted in such a tight field, we are optimistic that the car and driver characteristics will again suit the circuit, putting us in the fight at the front.”
For Norris and Oscar Piastri, Austria is a chance to show McLaren still belong near the top of the grid, rather than watching Mercedes and Ferrari turn the championship into a private contest.
