George Russell snatched pole position with a last gasp effort. | Photo Credit: AFP

Mercedes driver George Russell clinched pole position with a last gasp effort at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Russell, who has played second fiddle to teammate Kimi Antonelli this season and had looked off the pace all weekend, came alive in Q3 and executed the perfect lap to go quicker by over two tenths on his final run.

Pole at the Red Bull Ring marks Russell’s second pole position on the bounce, after he snapped his pole-less streak at the Barcelona de Catalunya Grand Prix a couple of weekends ago.

It, however, remains to be seen if the Briton will keep pole as he completed his quickest lap during yellow flags, caused by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s crash at the final corner.

The stewards have referred the incident for further review, and should they find that Russell did not slow down or completed his lap under double waved yellow flags, the 28-year-old will lose his time and drop down to third place.

Leclerc, after a couple of disappointing weekends in Monaco and Spain, had a much better outing in the scarlet Ferrari, outqualifying his teammate Lewis Hamilton to second place.

Antonelli, who held provisional pole before Verstappen’s crash, did not get the opportunity to improve his time and had to settle for fourth ahead of Verstappen in fifth.

The Mclaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished sixth and seventh respectively, while Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar finished eighth.

Racing Bulls Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top ten, finishing ninth and tenth.

Published on Jun 27, 2026