Formula 1 Focus: Russell gets smart, Red Bull show promise in bid to keep Verstappen

[p]It's often said that the real F1 season starts from the Spanish Grand Prix onwards, with drivers fully comfortable with their new cars and teams beginning to get a grip on teething problems and introduce updates, allowing a more representative pecking order to emerge.[/p][p]With that in mind, the Austrian Grand Prix that followed the action in Barcelona felt like an important one, potentially providing a strong indication of how the rest of the 2026 campaign will pan out.[/p][p]Ultimately, it was won by the Mercedes of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]George Russell[/a] with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] close behind, and these are my main takeaways from it.[/p][h2]Russell gets clever to put an end to slump[/h2][p]Nobody needed a strong weekend in Speilburg more than Russell, after the pre-season title favourite dropped down to third in the standings last time out in Barcelona, and while he didn't produce a real statement of a performance to wrestle back the momentum and send a message to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a], he managed to claim victory, not by being the fastest man on track, but by being the craftiest.[/p][embed guid="3b0e8014-ecc5-4b8b-a443-3bce9cb39f9d" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2070941913130168464" social-type="twitter" /][p]Antonelli was the favourite to win the battle for pole position on Saturday after topping the first two sessions of qualifying, but Verstappen threw a cat among the pigeons when he crashed out at the end of Q3. Single yellow flags were waved, requiring drivers to slow down, but while Antonelli got off the throttle and aborted his lap, Russell had other ideas. The Brit briefly slowed down at the scene of the crash before pushing to the limit all the way to the finish line.[/p][p]Many expected his lap to be invalidated, but it turned out that he'd judged things perfectly. While Antonelli pulled out of his lap, Russell knew that he'd technically be within the letter of the law if he could cross the line before double yellow flags requiring drivers to abort their lap came out and could show that he slowed down under the single yellows - data showed that he did so for pretty much as little time as humanly possible, losing less than a tenth of a second.[/p][p]You could make a pretty strong argument that it was unsporting and unsafe of him to keep pushing on a track where one car was in the barriers and the rest were going slowly, but it's also hard not to be impressed by his quick thinking and understanding of the rules, an area which has always been one of his strong points.[/p][embed guid="942077ae-2cf2-4407-bbfd-a1a835e13cca" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2070952134774841651" social-type="twitter" /][p]With Verstappen and Antonelli both finishing under two seconds behind him on race day, it's fair to say he probably wouldn't have won if not for that quick thinking, and he needs more of where that came from going forward. Antonelli is clearly the quicker man, so Russell needs to find other ways to beat him, and using his superior experience and gamesmanship is one way that he can do so.[/p][h2]Red Bull show much-needed promise as McLaren eye Verstappen[/h2][p]Finishing between Russell and Antonelli was the Red Bull of Verstappen after his team gave him a much-improved car at their home race, at a time when they really needed to.[/p][p]One of the biggest stories of the weekend was that Verstappen's management had opened talks with McLaren over a potential move. That would have made Red Bull absolutely desperate for the upgrades they brought to Austria to deliver the goods and give them some concrete progress to show him in their efforts to convince the Dutchman to stick with them beyond this season.[/p][p]Much to the relief of team boss Laurent Mekies and co, said upgrades did just that. Verstappen had a quick enough car to challenge at the very front of the field all weekend and was barely over a second away from claiming victory on Sunday. That's an absolutely massive step forward from where he and his team started the season.[/p][embed guid="3117e482-62d8-4975-a4f0-01b57ce60e84" url="https://x.com/redbullracing/status/2071270121562066957" social-type="twitter" /][p]Such steps forward are very much needed, because the threat of losing him is very much real. While both McLaren drivers look to be under contract until the end of next season, the four-time world champion would happily walk away from the grid and return to drive for the reigning champions in 2028 if the alternative is spending 2027 in the midfield battle.[/p][p]Even if his heart is already set on heading to McLaren, which doesn't look to be the case by any means, they need to convince him to stay put for next year at the very least, and the Austrian Grand Prix was a good first step towards doing so.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Leclerc[/a] looking out of sorts[/h2][p]Completely absent from the fight at the front was the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, and that's starting to become a recurring theme this season.[/p][p]After being soundly beaten by teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] in three consecutive rounds, I expected him to get back on track at a circuit where he's impressed over the years, getting one win and four further podiums, but he fell well short of doing so.[/p][p]He out-qualified Hamilton, but was very much second best to the veteran in the race. Hamilton overtook him at the start, pulled away and finished 20 seconds ahead of him, thanks mainly to stronger pace and superior tyre management.[/p][p]Those weren't Leclerc's only issues either, with the Monegasque sloppy in wheel-to-wheel battles. He hit [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Oscar Piastri[/a] when the McLaren overtook him, looking a far cry from the driver who really established himself as one of the best around with some stunning defensive driving against Verstappen back in 2019.[/p][p]He wasn't helped by the fact that Ferrari didn't give him the best car or strategy, but Leclerc is a long way from his best right now.[/p][infobox id="68274eb9-a292-466f-8d1c-279fe1b5c54c" /]