IT'S RACE WEEK: 5 storylines we're excited about ahead of the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix

The Mercedes dominance on a Sunday has come to an end, and Lewis Hamilton is emerging as a potential title contender after taking his first win for Ferrari. With multiple teams eyeing strong weekends, there could be plenty of exciting racing to look forward to as the paddock makes the trip to the Red Bull Ring. Here are the key talking points ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Can Hamilton keep the pressure on?

What a run Lewis Hamilton has been on over the past three races, securing his best three results for Ferrari in consecutive events. His first podium for the team came in China earlier this year, but Canada delivered his first runner-up finish, and he matched that in Monaco before the standout drive to take victory in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

It was a result we had earmarked ahead of that weekend as feeling ever-closer, and Hamilton duly delivered on a day when Kimi Antonelli failed to score. That turned a 66-point deficit into a 41-point one when it comes to the championship picture, and Hamilton went from just ahead of George Russell to much more of an external threat to Mercedes.

That said, it is worth remembering just how strong Mercedes have been so far this season, winning all of the Grands Prix prior to Barcelona, with Ferrari often competitive early on in races but fading in the latter stages.

Upgrades have certainly played a role in Ferrari’s first win as the Scuderia have improved their 2026 car at an impressive rate, but the hot temperatures and high-speed corners of Barcelona were seen as particularly good for their car. Following up with another race where Ferrari are at least able to challenge Mercedes could really start to increase the pressure on the championship leaders.

McLaren’s happy hunting ground

Ferrari have been enjoying a strong run of form but only three races ago it was McLaren who were staking their claim to be the biggest threat to Mercedes.

A one-two in the Sprint in Miami came after the first step of a big McLaren upgrade, and Lando Norris gave Antonelli a real run for his money in the Grand Prix itself in Florida. But since then, things haven’t gone quite as smoothly for the defending champions, even if Norris did pick up a solid podium in Barcelona.

On that occasion, McLaren had no response to Hamilton’s pace but Norris was at least able to keep the Mercedes drivers on their toes for much of the race. And now we head to a track that holds fond memories for the team, and the reigning World Champion in particular.

In 2020, Norris secured his first ever podium in F1 at the Red Bull Ring, and followed that up with another top-three finish there a year later. There was also a big step forward for McLaren in Austria in 2023, and then in 2024 he was fighting Max Verstappen for victory when the pair made contact, before the next visit yielded a victory en-route to the 2025 title.

If the track suits McLaren amid the latest set of regulations, then perhaps we could be in for a three-team battle come Sunday.

Mercedes’ reliability

It feels extremely strange to be highlighting a potential weakness for Mercedes, given how strong they have been so far this season. But with my apologies to Antonelli for asking how long his form would last ahead of the last race, reliability concerns threaten to make their championship aspirations much harder.

Antonelli was on for another strong second place in Barcelona, and it’s fair to say his form remains impressive after he overtook team mate Russell late in the race, but then the championship leader lost power and came to an abrupt halt out of Turn 5.

It was only the second Mercedes retirement from a Grand Prix this year, but they have come over the past three races after Russell similarly stopped when leading in Canada. And the customer McLaren team has not exactly had a smooth time of things either so far this season, with issues in consecutive races seeing Norris retire in both Montreal and Monaco.

Hamilton and Ferrari will want to challenge Mercedes from a pace point of view in Austria, but perhaps the first concern for Toto Wolff’s team will be having a clean weekend with no technical problems.

Fornaroli’s Haas test

Since the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, there has been quite a lot of track action, with a Pirelli tyre test taking place at the same circuit, while Yuki Tsunoda has also been racking up the miles for Red Bull in last year’s car.

An interesting outing also took place in Spain, but at the Jerez circuit, as Haas ran McLaren’s reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli for two days, with the Haas reserve Ryo Hirakawa also in attendance.

The 2025 Formula 2 champion has been impressing McLaren during his testing of previous car (TPC) runs for the team, and Haas could have a vacancy or two in 2027, so the team says the point of the run was to “test and appraise” Fornaroli.

Hirakawa has also caught the eye whenever he has had time in F1 machinery, while the team’s partnership with Ferrari could not only see Ollie Bearman remain with Haas, but also open up some form of opportunity for current F2 title contender Rafael Camara.

All of that suggests there could be potential movement on the driver front at Haas, with the team considering the options available to them if they don’t stick with the current partnership of Bearman and Esteban Ocon.

A great track for racing

The Red Bull Ring is a stunning race track that is draped on the side of a hill in the Styrian Mountains, with extreme elevation changes at Turn 1 and Turn 3 in particular.

While that all provides a beautiful view for fans trackside, it also tends to deliver some thrilling racing, with the uphill braking zones at the end of long straights encouraging moves into a number of corners.

And the battling that can take place at the first sector can still leave drivers exposed at the likes of Turn 4 and into the middle sector, with the short nature of the track meaning there is little opportunity to break away from the car behind before there’s a chance for them to come back at you.

Think back to Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, or Norris and Verstappen fighting in the final laps of the race in days gone by, and you’ve got some prime examples of the excitement that Austria can deliver.