Relief for Russell as he returns to winning ways

Finally, George Russell has another victory to his name in 2026, and the relief in him was almost palpable.

The Mercedes driver’s win in the Austrian Grand Prix was his first since the opening race of the season in Australia, nearly four months ago.

In that time, he has seen team-mate Kimi Antonelli emerge as Formula 1's new superstar and win five races in a row to take control of the championship. Even Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari had won a race, and overtaken him in the points table, before Russell got back on the scoreboard.

"It feels like a long time ago, to be honest," Russell said. "It's been a tough couple of months with some really tricky races, with races that felt like everything was going against me, then some races with some tough performances.

"Obviously, I've got a really incredible team-mate next to me, who week in, week out is delivering some pretty spectacular performances.

"So, for me, going into Canada, going into Barcelona from quite a low point, I needed a lot of resilience to be able to get back and deliver some strong performances. So, to get the last two poles, to get the win here this weekend, especially on a track which I don't think is so suited to me, I'm really, really proud."

Russell has been through the mill this season. Some bad luck in China and Japan after Australia helped pave the way for Antonelli to develop his winning momentum. Then Russell was off the pace in Miami as Antonelli fought McLaren's Lando Norris for another win.

Russell took pole in Canada, and was leading but under intense pressure from Antonelli when his battery failed and he retired.

Off the pace again in Monaco while Antonelli was supreme out front, Russell had more bad luck with the farrago over the incorrect pit-lane speeding penalties, which still has to work itself out, with McLaren and Red Bull taking the case to the FIA court of appeal.

Pole in Spain followed for Russell, when he finally got some luck as Antonelli retired just after the Italian had passed him for second behind Hamilton.

F1 drivers are super-human in many ways, but deep down they still have insecurities. And Russell has been happy to admit his own. And that he needed this win.

"The tough races definitely test you psychologically," he said. "And these last two weekends for me have been vitally important to remind myself I can do it.

"Single lap, race pace was very strong this weekend, and on a track that is probably not very well suited to my style. So, looking forward to heading to Silverstone next week, seeing all the home fans. I'm sure it's going to be great."

Russell paid tribute to his team for helping him understand through careful analysis of the data where he needed to improve.

But team principal Toto Wolff said there had been a psychological aspect to it as well.

Early in qualifying, Wolff had got on the radio to Russell with a message. "George, just drive". This, Wolff revealed after the race, was a reference to the work behind the scenes that had been aimed at helping Russell re-centre himself amid a difficult first third of the season.

Wolff said: "It's such a high-pressure environment that you have a young team-mate and that's your year, and then he's so strong, you have a DNF, you're falling behind. Like every top athlete, you can kind of get yourself in a spiral.

"And that is not a spiral of negativity, it's more a spiral of overthinking. 'What can I do more? Where do I need to optimise?' And then sometimes you forget about the core essence, and this is just driving the car.

"And this 'just drive' is something that we talk a lot about. It's just be in the moment of driving the car. Don't overthink too much about the strategy, what Kimi's doing.

"Drive the car as fast as you can and look at the tyre temperatures and don't burn them. That's the only metrics you need to look at. And that's what I was trying to say."

Russell's victory was founded on what happened at the end of that qualifying session. In fact, the destinies of the three drivers who ultimately contested victory were effectively decided as they intertwined at Turn Nine in the dying seconds of the final session on Saturday.

Max Verstappen crashed, because of an aerodynamic problem at the rear of his car, Red Bull said.

Antonelli mis-read the light boards beside the track and thought he had to back out of his lap for a double yellow flag.

Russell read them right, and lifted only as much as he needed to. That, combined with the quality of the lap up until then, put him on pole, Antonelli and Verstappen fourth and fifth.

Had each delivered to their potential, they probably would have lined up for the grand prix Russell-Antonelli-Verstappen, and been fighting from the beginning. Instead, Russell had some breathing space while Verstappen and Antonelli fought past the Ferraris, and that was enough.

That's not to say the result would necessarily have been different. Mercedes calculated the pace of the top three finishers to be pretty much identical, the differential seen at the end as Verstappen closed on Russell while Antonelli closed on both simply caused by their different tyre life.

But that's the what if. As it happened, Antonelli cost himself time and track position with a madcap first couple of laps in which he spent almost as much time off track as he did on it and dropped to fifth. Verstappen had to find a way past the Ferraris.

Even then, the race turned on pit stops and strategy.

The decisive point for Russell and Verstappen as they fought was the timing of the second pit stop. Verstappen had closed to within 1.3 seconds when Mercedes brought Russell in on lap 43.

It was early, and Russell knew that the remaining 28 laps were a lot to ask of his tyres. But it banked track position and ensured Red Bull had to run Verstappen longer, to build a tyre offset to come back at Russell over the remaining laps.

Had Red Bull got Verstappen in that lap, the positions would have been reversed, and likely Verstappen would have won.

Likewise, Antonelli. He ran longer to both first and second stops. As luck would have it, had Mercedes waited one more lap before his first stop, he would have caught the virtual safety car that was called for Carlos Sainz's stricken Williams. And that would have likely made him the winner.

The fact Verstappen and Red Bull were in the fight for victory was as big a story as Russell's win.

Red Bull have been the fourth fastest car on balance this season, but a big upgrade for this race brought them into the fight at the front.

Wolff believed this was as much to do with Verstappen himself as the revisions to the Red Bull car - after all, he has five victories around this track.

"I think the biggest factor this weekend was Max, to be honest," he said. "For me, how it feels is like Max won every single race here that he's ever participated in, in whatever car. So Spielberg is one of his strong places."

Hamilton, though, saw it another way, as a statement that Red Bull are back.

"They made a huge step this weekend," Hamilton said. "They must have brought a 0.3-0.4secs 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. It's a good showing that they've 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."

Verstappen admitted Red Bull might have missed a trick with the second-stop timing, but said: "This was the first time I felt like actually I could fight for the win.

"The first half of the race, we were more competitive, because for whatever reason in the second half, something felt off on the rear of the car, where everything was just extremely difficult, from bumps, kerbs, traction, it was just completely gone.

"We still had a very good race, to be honest. It's been a pretty long road to be here and actually to sit here in the top three and have a real shot at it, that is already very positive."