Lewis Hamilton had to settle for P5 in the 2026 F1 Austrian GP as Scuderia Ferrari struggled for pace on Sunday afternoon.
Having qualified in P3, the Brit made a lovely pass on Charles Leclerc into turn 4 on the opening lap. Initially, he was able to stay within a second of George Russell, including an early fastest lap.
However, this was not a repeat of Barcelona. Ferrari had the worst tyre degradation of the top four teams. Cars #44 and #16 lacked grip and paid the price.
After bravely holding off Max Verstappen in the first stint, the Dutchman eventually got it done early in the second one. Then the seven-time World Champion boxed under a VSC, dropping to 7th.
While he passed Hadjar and Leclerc, the 106-time race winner could not overhaul Oscar Piastri. The Aussie actually eased away very slowly in the last stint as they boxed on the same lap.
Lewis Hamilton wanted to start on softs in 2026 F1 Austrian GP but no big change even if he did
Speaking in the print media pen after the race, the 41-year-old talked about the strategy. He revealed he wanted to start on softs like he did in Barcelona.
Ultimately, though, he feels only one place better was potentially possible with the top 3 over 20s ahead at the end.
“No, I think that was pretty much it. Yeah, for some reason we just lacked pace.
“But this morning in the strategy meeting they said it’s a two-stop, three-stop is four seconds slower. And last night and this morning they gave us that information, but I was dead set it was a three for me.
“I thought the deg was going to be super high, particularly as the track temperature today was the highest we’ve had it in a long, long time. It was a mid-50s to 60 degree track temperature.
“I thought the deg was going to be massive for us. So I wanted to start on the soft, but the team were nervous. They pushed for us to start on the medium, which ultimately I think was suboptimal.
“I think we probably would have been around the same place. Maybe, just maybe if I would have been able to start on the soft, maybe I’d have got fourth.”
Struggles with the balance and high tyre wear
On Friday, Scuderia Ferrari really struggled for grip and balance, looking the slowest of the top four squads. Although they performed very well in qualifying, the race exposed those aforementioned limitations again.
“For some reason I was good with George for a second and then he just started pulling away.
“Particularly, I mean I’m in his tow, but he’s just eking out a little bit on the straights. And then my rears went off very, very quick.
“I really don’t know why the balance was like that, but it was really tough to hold on to. So we stopped early, went to the three, but then the soft later on wasn’t so good.
“It may not have been great at the beginning, but at least we would have had those nice new tyres in the next two or three stints.
“It is what it is. We did the best we could.”
Hamilton and his difficulties on the hard tyre in the 2026 F1 Austrian GP
Boxing very early at the end of lap 12, Lewis Hamilton struggled to show blistering pace on his new hards. As well as that, he needed to clear Bortoleto and the Racing Bulls.
The lack of speed allowed George Russell to go a further seven laps and maintain track position over his former Mercedes F1 teammate.
His old rival Max Verstappen went a further six tours, taking 2nd soon after that stop. Lewis Hamilton was clearly impressed by the speed of the upgraded Red Bull at their home track. Following a terrible start to the year, the Milton Keynes-based squad have improved their chassis and car immensely.
“Yeah, for some reason when we came out […] and it’s the first time I’m driving the C3 this weekend.
“But yeah, when we came out the grip was quite poor. And then they came in, but it didn’t feel like a good tyre for me.
“For some reason those still went off for us. It doesn’t matter what tyre you put on after that, they were going to drop off quite pick.
“And then Max was just, you know, they made a huge step this weekend. I think they must have brought a three to four-tenth upgrade. Three tenths was just from the weight that they dropped from the car, which is huge.
“Considering they’ve been so close in some of the races, like Monaco, and they were nine kilos overweight, is showing they have got a good car and that they just lost that weight.
“And then they brought up lots of upgrades, so they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in the following races.”
Lewis Hamilton on battling fierce F1 rival Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring
When the seven-time World Champion and four-time one come together on track, everyone watching is absorbed by their battles. After a great one in Canada, they went at it again on Sunday.
On lap 11 with the Ferrari driver struggling on tyres, the Dutchman sent it into turn 3. However, he superclipped on exit and Hamilton repassed heading to T4. An ambitious move by Verstappen around the outside of turn 6 saw him escored to a bit of gravel, before eventually backing out at the next corner.
Come lap 22, the same story repeated itself in turns 3 and 4. Ultimately, however, the Red Bull F1 driver used his fresher tyres and extra battery to make a move into turn 6. He then drove away.
Lewis Hamilton really enjoyed the fight.
“It was great. It was a good run. Good fun.”
Told Verstappen had moaned on the radio about turn 6, the former McLaren and Mercedes driver explained that the Dutchman should have backed out of it as he lost the battle to the turn 6 apex.
“Yeah, you don’t expect to go around the outside of a champion. I wouldn’t expect to go around the outside of him there and hold the line.
“He was behind at the apex, and therefore he should have backed out, but he didn’t.
“I left just enough room.”
