Austrian Grand Prix 2026 round-up: Russell’s Spielberg win tightens the top three

Round 8 of the 2026 season at the Red Bull Ring reshuffled key rankings and positions behind the championship leader. George Russell’s points haul in Austria also moved him up to P2 overall.

By Julian Reyes

What happened at the Austrian Grand Prix?

The 2026 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (June 28) delivered notable movement across Measure’s weekend ratings, with changes both at the very top of the championship and inside the form-based tables.

In the championship fight, George Russell left Austria with a 25-point score and a P1 finish, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli added 15 points with P3. Lewis Hamilton scored 10 points with P5, and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took 12 points with P4 as Lando Norris scored 6 with P7.

Away from the headline points, the Momentum ranking saw major swings—Piastri surged and Russell jumped, while Franco Colapinto went the other way—setting up a weekend where the story wasn’t just who scored, but who shifted trajectory.

Who leads the F1 2026 championship after the Austrian Grand Prix?

Andrea Kimi Antonelli remains the F1 2026 championship leader after Austria on 171 points for Mercedes.

Russell is now second on 131 points (Mercedes), with Hamilton third on 125 (Ferrari). That compresses the battle behind P1, even with Antonelli still holding a clear lead at the front.

Who were the biggest movers?

The biggest weekend movers were led by Oscar Piastri (McLaren), who climbed 14 places to P3 in the Momentum ranking on +4.07. Russell (Mercedes) also surged in the Momentum ranking, up 13 to P9 on +0.93.

Franco Colapinto (Alpine F1 Team) had the largest negative swing in the Momentum ranking, dropping 12 to P19 on −2.67, but he also rose in Most overtakes—up 5 to P11 with 33.

In Teammate head-to-head (race), Antonelli (Mercedes) fell 6 places to P7 with a 5–3 record, while Alexander Albon (Williams) gained 6 to P14 with 3–5.

Where can I read the full Measure ranking deep-dives from Austria?

This round-up pulls the weekend’s headline movements together, and the full stories are in Measure’s ranking pages—especially Championship ranking, Momentum ranking, Power ranking, and Teammate head-to-head (race).

Other notable Austria updates are covered across Best qualifying average, Best average race finish, Most consistent drivers, Most top-10 finishes, Most overtakes, Teammate head-to-head (qualifying), and the positions-gained/lost leaderboards.

Before & after positions

In this article

• Championship ranking
• F1 drivers
• Best average positions gained
• Best qualifying average
• Best average race finish
• Biggest improvement vs qualifying

Every ranking from this round

• Lawson still tops F1 2026 ‘Best average positions gained’ as Leclerc’s Austria slide reshuffles the top 10
• Antonelli’s Best qualifying average lead holds after Austria as Leclerc edges ahead of Norris
• Antonelli keeps the edge in F1 2026 ‘Best average race finish’ after Austria as Gasly slides
• Lawson still tops F1 2026’s ‘Biggest improvement vs qualifying’ ranking after Austria as Leclerc slides to 10th
• Championship ranking after Austria: Antonelli’s 171-point cushion holds as Russell climbs to P2 and Ferrari reshuffles
• Hadjar takes over the F1 Momentum ranking lead after Austria as Piastri rockets to P3
• Antonelli stays clear in F1 2026’s ‘Most consistent drivers’ metric as Russell jumps to P3 after Austria
• Most overtakes: Verstappen holds P1 on 50 as Audi’s Bortoleto and Hülkenberg reshape the top three
• Most positions gained: Verstappen’s +21 stays clear as Leclerc’s Austria slide reshuffles the top three
• Alonso still tops 2026’s ‘Most positions gained on lap one’ ranking as Hamilton and Albon climb into the top 10
• Russell stays top of 2026’s ‘Most positions lost’ table as Leclerc’s Spielberg slide reshuffles the chasers
• Hamilton’s perfect eight sets the pace in 2026’s Most top-10 finishes as Hadjar jumps to P8
• Lawson still leads F1 2026 ‘Points from outside the top 10’ after Austria — even with no score from a 10th-or-worse start
• Power ranking after Austria: Verstappen holds P1 on 72.4 as Piastri jumps to third
• Hamilton takes over Teammate head-to-head (race) lead after Austria as Antonelli drops from P1
• Verstappen holds P1 in 2026 teammate head-to-head (qualifying) as Gasly jumps into the top 10

What to watch

Austria reinforces two parallel trends: Antonelli’s points lead is still substantial, but the fight behind him is tightening as Russell moves ahead of Hamilton. Meanwhile, the Momentum and teammate comparison tables show how quickly weekend-to-weekend form can shift—useful context when judging whether the next rounds are likely to be a continuation of recent patterns or another reset.