What the teams said – Race day in Austria

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What is F1 TV?F1 GlossaryGet involved2026 RegulationsNewsVideosWhat the teams said – Race day in AustriaHamilton questions Ferrari's lack of pace in AustriaPerez and Bottas reflect on Cadillac issuesPiastri surprised to beat Ferrari after P4 in AustriaPlay1:37DHL Fastest Lap Award – 2026 Austrian Grand Prix 1:32'A bit all over the place' at the start and 'had to chase' - Antonelli on his P3 finish in Austrian GP Alexander AlbonFernando AlonsoKimi AntonelliOliver BearmanGabriel BortoletoValtteri BottasFranco ColapintoPierre GaslyIsack HadjarLewis HamiltonNico HulkenbergLiam LawsonCharles LeclercArvid LindbladLando NorrisEsteban OconSergio PerezOscar PiastriGeorge RussellCarlos SainzLance StrollMax VerstappenAll Drivers Hall of FameTeamsChevron DropdownAlpineAston MartinAudiCadillacFerrariHaas F1 TeamMcLarenMercedesRacing BullsRed Bull RacingWilliamsAll TeamsFantasy & GamingChevron DropdownF1 Sim RacingFantasyF1 25F1 Manager 24F1 PredictF1 ClashF1 Members' AreaMenuFIA if(window.f1MobileDetection.iOSSafari) { var meta = document.createElement("meta"); meta.name = "apple-itunes-app"; meta.content = "app-id=835022598, app-argument=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-the-teams-said-race-day-in-austria-2026.2c6WyTl6yjshJrSwqRsYAK.2c6WyTl6yjshJrSwqRsYAK"; document.head.appendChild(meta); } {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-the-teams-said-race-day-in-austria-2026.2c6WyTl6yjshJrSwqRsYAK","url":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-the-teams-said-race-day-in-austria-2026.2c6WyTl6yjshJrSwqRsYAK","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-the-teams-said-race-day-in-austria-2026.2c6WyTl6yjshJrSwqRsYAK","datePublished":"2026-06-28T17:51:36.432Z","dateModified":"2026-06-28T17:51:36.432Z","headline":"What the teams said – Race day at the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix","author":"F1","description":"The drivers and teams report back on all the action from the Austrian Grand Prix.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.formula1.com/image/upload/t_16by9Centre/f_auto/q_auto/v1782664587/fom-website/2026/Austria/Teams%20header%20Austria.png"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","publisher":{"@type":"SportsOrganization","@id":"https://www.formula1.com#organization","name":"Formula 1","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.formula1.com/etc/designs/fom-website/social/f1-default-share.jpg","width":"480","height":"120"}}}MercedesMcLarenWilliamsShow more tagsWhat the teams said – Race day in AustriaThe drivers and teams report back on all the action from the Austrian Grand Prix. Russell had a great getaway from pole on Sunday, and absorbed all the pressure from behind to lead the race through the first stint. He built enough of a gap to pit when it suited the team rather than being forced to react to others, and when all the stops shook out he had a 10-second lead from Verstappen in the closing stages. Russell managed that superbly despite the Dutchman closing in, to record his first Grand Prix win since Australia. As for Antonelli, he had to work hard for his podium after a messy first few laps. The Italian ran wide and lost some places, having to then fight back through the field. He was left out long for his first stint which cost him some time, but he was rapid in the final one and closed right up to Verstappen, running out of laps to attack for P2. "It was not a straightforward race from my side. The first stint wasn’t where it needed to be and I struggled a bit with the brakes early on. After that, the pace was much better and I was able to get back into the fight. I think if we had a few more laps, it could have been an interesting battle for P2 at the end. "Congratulations to George on the win today. He did a great job managing the race, especially in the final stint under pressure. It’s a strong result for the whole team to have both cars scoring well and bringing home good points. "There is still a lot for me to learn, and this weekend has been a good reminder of that. I will take the lessons and come back stronger next weekend. "I’m looking forward to Silverstone. It’s always a special circuit and, with it being a sprint weekend, it will be important to be on it from the first session." "I’m really pleased with that result. It’s never straightforward around here and we were under pressure for much of the race, particularly in the final stint, so to convert pole into the win is very satisfying. "The team did a great job with the strategy and gave me a car that I could manage well across the race. In those conditions, it’s about keeping things simple, focusing on just driving, and I think we executed that well today. "It’s also great to score strong points together as a team. Kimi did a good job to recover and get himself back into the fight, which was important for the overall result. "We know it’s very tight at the front and our competitors are pushing us hard, so we have to keep working to find more performance. For now, though, we can take the positives from this weekend and look ahead to Silverstone next week." Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport "It was a race where we were under constant pressure and closer to our competitors than we would have liked. Red Bull were very competitive, particularly in the final stint, and we had to manage that all the way to the line. "George handled the race well. In those situations, it’s about keeping things simple and just driving, and he did exactly that without making mistakes when it mattered. "Kimi also showed good resilience after the start. He recovered well, got himself back into the fight, and was applying pressure for P2 right to the end of the race. "We scored strong points for the team today, but it also underlines how tight the competition is at the front and where we need to continue improving." Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director "Today was a great result for the team and a great result for George. It was good to see him take another well-deserved win and nice to have Kimi on the podium with him. It was one of those races where we were wishing it was a lap longer as it looked like Kimi had the pace to pass Max, but a podium is a solid result. "The strategy team made good calls throughout the race. George was able to build a useful gap in the first stint, and we reacted well to cover the undercut threat from Verstappen heading into the final stint. Kimi also showed strong pace, making a good move on Leclerc early on and then using that to offset his strategy, which gave him the benefit of fresher tyres towards the end. "End of stint performance was a key factor today. It looked like only Verstappen, and our two drivers were able to manage tyre degradation effectively as the stints went beyond 20 laps, which is encouraging, particularly heading into the hotter races where that will be tested further. "It’s been a solid weekend in terms of points for the team, but it’s clear the field is very close. We’ll need to keep finding improvements and bringing performance if we want to maintain that position over the coming races." 0/2Next imageRed Bull Verstappen more than made up for his Qualifying crash with a strong drive on Sunday. He climbed from fifth to third across the first few laps, before picking off Hamilton to run de facto second. But Red Bull left the Dutchman out instead of reacting to Russell’s last stop at a track where the undercut was potent. That put Verstappen 10 seconds behind after his last stop, and while he caught back up to Russell, he didn’t have time to try and make a move for the win. Hadjar had an equally busy race, fighting with Hamilton, Norris and Leclerc at various stages. He managed to move up from eighth on the grid to sixth at the flag, on a day when the RB22 looked very fast. “It was a very good race for us today. The first two laps were quite fun and the first half felt really good and fun to drive. Then it was basically just about trying to manage our tyres, especially after the battles with Lewis. Something happened with the rear axle which made me lose pace which is why I was not able to fight at the end. In hindsight we could have done the undercut to jump ahead and I think I had the degredation edge over George but overall I am pleased with P2. We did some good racing and I didn’t expect us to be that strong against the Mercedes. It was a great effort from the team: they have worked really hard to get the upgrades to the car so thank you very much to everyone. It was better than expected and the race pace was a lot better than we thought. I didn’t think we would fight for the win when I jumped in the car this morning, so to finish sitting here in the top 3 is a really positive result for us!" “l was happy with my race start, it was a big improvement from Barcelona. Starting from eighth, we had a very aggressive race. I was running out of tyres at the end of my stints, so it was probably not the fastest race for me, but I still managed to gain two places. You could feel the upgrade in the race pace, and I think we had the second quickest car today so I was very happy with that. I still need to feel more comfortable in the car to extract the most from it, but it is the best race car we’ve had so far, and it is delivering. I think on a cooler track, hopefully next week, we can be a bit more competitive again." "Our best result of the year. We produced a very strong performance this afternoon, without a doubt our strongest race of the season so far. The most satisfying element is the pace: I think Kimi was quickest today and Max was maybe a little bit quicker than George, but then your grid position also has an impact. "In qualifying, it was clear how much progress we have made, even if the grid positions didn’t reflect that. On what is a very difficult track, made even more demanding by the very hot conditions, we got very close to the sort of pace needed to win. That is a testament to how effective the work carried out back at the factory was. If you look back to the start of the season, we have managed to close the gap to the fastest from one second to around a couple of tenths. The fight is not over yet, with everyone continuing to bring updates and we will need more to come from our side. Max was exceptional today in all phases of the race. We did not win, but we were lacking very little, maybe just hundredths of a second and it was certainly a good fight. "Isack also delivered another solid performance today as he continues to make progress, so overall it’s a step in the right direction. It’s also worth noting that all four cars using the Red Bull Ford Powertrains finished in the points today.” 0/2Next imageMcLaren Norris was briefly fighting Verstappen off the line, which cost him track position as Piastri managed to dive through. From there, the Australian managed a decent race as he kept Hamilton at bay and then drove away from the Ferrari man in the final stint. Norris could not extract the same pace, after extending one stint which cost him some time. McLaren remain a little off the pace of their rivals at the moment. “Overall, today was still an okay result for the team, especially finishing ahead of one of the Ferraris. It was a difficult day for everyone out there though, with the extreme temperatures. We lost crucial track position on the opening lap and again during the pit stop, which was an important factor in the race today. Once you lose that ground, it's incredibly tough to make it back, so it was an unfortunate outcome for us, but the team stayed focused and put in a good shift to maximise what we could for the rest of the race. “We didn’t run any upgrades here like other teams, and the car is still behind the leaders in terms of performance, but that's something we know we need more time to improve. We will debrief everything as a team before heading to Silverstone, where I’m excited for the home crowd. We’re making progress, and if we tidy up Lap 1 and pit sequencing, we’ll give ourselves a better shot next time.” “I’m really happy with today’s performance. It felt like a good race, and we were able to execute well and apply some things I’ve learned over the last few weeks. The pace was stronger than we expected, and to be able to successfully challenge and beat Ferrari was a definite positive for the team. I feel like we got the absolute most out of the car, and that's a good feeling. “However, we still need to find more pace if we want to be up there challenging the top three consistently. We don’t have a specific area of weakness; we just need more overall performance and grip to take that next step. We'll keep chipping away at it, and we'll focus on carrying this momentum into the next few races. I'm looking forward to the challenge.” “Today was a positive step forward. We made clear progress from Qualifying thanks to the car working well with the tyres, keeping the rears alive in tough heat, and our strategy remaining patient without capping our speed. We have to be realistic about our current situation though; we are not in a position to fight for victories and podiums on pure pace at the moment. The race today demonstrated that, but it also highlighted our strengths. “We were able to compete with and finish ahead of Ferrari by capitalising on excellent strategy and tyre management, and Oscar drove a fantastic race, which was a real positive to see. On the other hand, Lando had a difficult weekend, but we will work with him to understand where we lost the performance, just as we did with Oscar previously, following Barcelona. “We still have a deficit of a few tenths compared to the top team and closing that gap is all about development and getting the most from what we have. Red Bull’s benchmark shows that upgrades translate into results, and we’ll bring small updates for the next round while preparing for changeable weather. “Looking ahead to Silverstone, returning as champions will be special, but our focus is on the present. A podium would be a great result, but a victory will be difficult. We have a strong undertaking to our fans to get back to the front, and we are working tirelessly to deliver the performance that will allow us to celebrate victories with them again soon.” 0/2Next imageFerrari Hamilton managed to fight past his team mate off the line, and ran second early on before he lost out to Verstappen in an entertaining tussle that lasted nearly half a lap. He wound up pitting early, the Ferraris not able to keep the life in their tyres in the hot conditions. That forced both Hamilton and Leclerc into a three-stop strategy which was not the optimum today. Hamilton was able to fight back past Hadjer for P5, but Leclerc really struggled on his second set of hard tyres and went backwards in the late stages for a disappointing P8 finish. "It was an extremely hot and demanding race. I had some good battles at certain points and at the start of the race I thought maybe we were in with a good chance. The team did a great job with the pitstops but it’s clear we’re still struggling on the straights and tyre degradation was quite high, which in the end made things challenging. "Going into the race, we felt a three-stop strategy could have been in play due to the track temperatures. It’s always difficult to know how things would have played out, but I don’t think much more was possible, given where we were today. We’ve got a week until Silverstone and will look at everything we learnt and see what we can do there." "We went with a setup direction similar to the one I ran here last year, and it worked out well in qualifying. In the race, it was less effective and I struggled mainly with the rear, which caused me to slide around quite a bit. "We had a strong weekend in terms of pace in Barcelona, so we know our upgrades worked. These new cars are very sensitive, so if you are not in the right window with the setup, you pay the consequence, and this is something we still have to learn more about and optimise going forward. "We have a lot of work to do ahead of Silverstone and I hope that we can come back stronger there as a team." "It was a challenging weekend: I don't think we got it off on the right foot on Friday, as we struggled in both FP1 and FP2 and weren’t able to complete proper long runs. We recovered well over a single lap in qualifying, but we probably didn’t prepare the race as well as we should have. Looking back, we were perhaps too focused on Mercedes today. We pushed hard in the opening laps and then reacted too aggressively with the strategy, trying to stay with them when, realistically, that wasn’t our race. We will learn from this, refocus on ourselves and immediately turn our attention to the British Grand Prix next week." 0/2Next imageRacing Bulls Racing Bulls had a tense moment early on, when Lawson radioed to say his car was on fire. Nothing could be seen and the Kiwi driver was able to continue, making his way back past his team mate thanks to undercutting Lindblad. The car had enough pace to then hold the rest of the midfield at bay, with Racing Bulls scoring their third double-points finish in a row. "It was a positive race and it's nice to get another double-points result for the team. It wasn't the easiest race inside the car for me, as I struggled with braking at low speed and when I was on the Hard tyre. There are a few things that I could have managed better that we need to work on, so I will make sure to review them with the team. Now I'm very much looking forward to racing in Silverstone next week. It will be my first home race in Formula One and I know it's going to be very special. The team has done an amazing job over the last few races to keep bringing upgrades and adding performance to the car, so I hope we can go there by keeping our recent great form as that would be very cool." "It was really hot out there today, but overall it was a good race. Tyre degradation was pretty much as we expected, which meant we were able to stick to our plan. In the first stint we were managing some very high brake temperatures, but that settled down after a few laps. There was also a miscommunication between Arvid and I, so I was surprised when we ended up racing into Turn 4, but I was able to regain the position after the second pit stop. We made a good step forward with the car this weekend, and the pace was strong throughout the race. To come away with double points is a great result for the team, and we’ll be looking to keep that momentum going. A sprint weekend at Silverstone gives us another great opportunity, and I’m really looking forward to getting back out there.” "It was a pretty perfect weekend for us here in Austria. The last couple of weekends we’ve had a quick car in Qualifying, which we haven’t been able to convert into race pace, but the whole team both here at track and the factories in Faenza and Milton Keynes have worked very hard to turn that around. We brought an update here and had indications on Friday that our pace was decent on long runs, but you never really know until you get into the race. It was pretty clear today though that we were quick, so a huge well done to Liam and Arvid for bringing it home in 9th and 10th quite comfortably. We really look forward to getting to Silverstone next week!" 0/2Next imageAudi Audi came close again, but could not add to their points tally. Bortoleto gambled on a soft tyre start, and did get off the line a little better than he has of late. He made his way past Gasly, but just didn’t have the outright pace to fight the Racing Bulls for the points. Hulkenberg picked off the Alpine late on for P12, as his quest for a first point of the year continues. “It was a difficult race to make much progress. We tried to create an advantage by extending the first stint, but with the amount of traffic and cars coming through to lap us, it didn’t really play out the way we had hoped. Looking back, maybe an earlier stop would have opened up a few more opportunities, but that’s easy to say afterwards. “The positive is that our race pace was quite good. We were able to match, and at times even be a little quicker than, the cars around us, but starting further back made it difficult to convert that into a result. “We’ll take the learnings into Silverstone. It’s a very different circuit and one I always enjoy, so hopefully we can put ourselves in a stronger position next weekend.” "I think we did the best we could today. I overtook the Alpine ahead of me, and we had really decent pace for most of the race, but I just couldn't make it into the points as the VCARBs were just faster than us this weekend. It was a very clean race as well, so there wasn't really any chaos or retirements ahead to take advantage of unlike in the last few races. “Overall, we maximised everything we had this weekend. Our pace in qualifying was good, and the package we brought here worked as we expected. We just need to catch up a little bit to those ahead of us, and we'll do our best to get there – starting with Silverstone next week." “Overall, this weekend represents another important step forward for us as a team. I think we maximised the performance of the car across both qualifying and the race, and Nico and Gabi extracted everything that was available from our package. “Around this circuit we simply didn't quite have the qualifying performance to get ahead of the VCARBs yesterday, with the track characteristics not playing particularly well to our strengths at the moment, and today we couldn't close that gap any further. That said, from an operational perspective it was an excellent weekend. The drivers, engineers and mechanics all executed well, the pit stops were strong, and everything worked exactly as we wanted it to. “We leave Austria encouraged by the progress we have made and with another solid step in our development. Now the focus shifts to Silverstone, where we will look to continue building on that momentum.” 0/2Next imageAlpine Gasly started 11th and had hopes of moving into the points having scored in every Grand Prix he has finished. But it was not to be today, as he lost out to a soft-shod Bortoleto early on, and was unable to fight back against the Audi. He wound up three-stopping, the only car bar the Ferraris to do so. Colapinto finished a couple of places further back after fighting with Bearman for much of the afternoon. “There's quite a lot for us to understand after that race which was probably the toughest of the season. It felt difficult out there in terms of grip and car balance and there was a lot of degradation. I had to do three stops because my tyres were wearing very quickly. The race didn't start the best way having a power issue on the straights. We lost positions and then we were in traffic but ultimately, even in free air, we didn't have the pace and, as I said, had a lot of degradation. We were good on Sunday in Barcelona, and it was really warm there, so I was optimistic that would play in our favour compared to the Racing Bulls but that wasn't the case so there's a lot for us to work on. It's clear where we need to improve and I know the team will be looking for answers so we can react straight away before the Sprint weekend coming up at Silverstone.” “It wasn't the easiest weekend and in general we couldn't really find the pace or the grip. We struggled to find a good balance and the race was very long and the high track surface temperatures meant we were putting a lot of energy into the tyres, particularly on the rears. The pace out of the box was strong on fresh tyres and then dropped off quite aggressively over the stint and the more sliding we had the hotter the tyres got. We need to understand a bit more what happened, as we usually are stronger in the race and that wasn't the case today. I had a very bad start with a lack of boost, which meant we were already fighting from the back from the opening lap. There were some good fights and battles out there, but we want to be fighting higher up, which we aim to do at Silverstone next weekend.” Steve Nielsen, Managing Director “The honest assessment is we lacked the pace to really compete this weekend, and we weren't in a position to fight for points at the chequered flag. We tried our best to put ourselves in with a chance and be within shooting distance of the Racing Bulls, even switching Pierre to a three-stop under the VSC. However, it didn't do too much to change the final outcome, showing that we didn't have the speed this weekend. We need to ensure this is a blip and not a trend, and we need to understand why and quickly put things right. Both drivers made slow getaways with a lack of boost, which we need to look into as starts have been one of our strong points this year. We're not happy with the result, but we know these things ebb and flow across the year and the main thing is we react and keep bringing performance to the car. It's worth noting as well that our pit crew did an excellent job today and played their part in five very good pit-stops in hot conditions which is not an easy task. We look forward to bouncing back and showing performances more like what we saw earlier in the season. It's the home race for Enstone next weekend and the fans are always amazing at Silverstone, so we'll work hard to achieve a positive result and put on a good show.” 0/2Next imageHaas Haas continue to search for the sort of pace that brought them points in the first three Grands Prix of the season. Instead, they saw both drivers go backwards in Austria, as Bearman and Ocon each finished one place lower than they started. It was a tough day, especially considering their Racing Bulls rivals scored yet again, but Silverstone is a very different type of circuit so they will hope for an immediate bounce back next weekend, “It was a tough day, and we struggled for pace. We had a really bad start and lost out on a lot of track position, and after that I was just stuck. I’m lucky that I got the VSC, but on the same token, we were very slow throughout the race. I did my best but we were really nowhere near Audi, Racing Bulls, or Alpine, we were much slower. Today has been a surprise, but also the balance has been massively out today and I couldn’t get it to work. Based on what I was feeling in the car, I’m not that surprised.” “It's as expected, we know there's an issue on the car, but I think the positive is that we gave it our all this weekend. We exploited the maximum out of it and we tried to change every component we could, but we're still struggling with the same thing. The start was incredible, we've worked really hard as a team to try and get that as best as we could. We surpassed everyone on the launch, and on the first lap, I almost managed to get into the points positions. I was with the Racing Bulls but I got lapped after a while, which is tough to take. We need to get the car healthy again, that's the first step. We're lacking a lot of load and the problem is that I'm sliding on the tyres. I can hold on for the first few laps, but after that, I'm getting overtaken by other cars.” “Today, once again, operationally it was good. It was unfortunate that Ollie had a really poor start, so we need to look into that, and with both drivers, we tried a few different things to get us closer to the points, but where we ended up is roughly where the car was this weekend. One pit stop was slow, which is a shame because the two previous were really good. In terms of trackside operation, with support from Banbury and Maranello, it was good, and that’s the positive, and I think we got the most out of the car both yesterday and today. We need to raise the baseline, which means a faster car, and we’re working on it, so hopefully we can get that performance on the car as quickly as possible.” 0/2Next imageWilliams Williams endured a tricky race in Spielberg, with Sainz retiring midway through with a suspected electrical issue. That caused a short VSC, which did not prove instrumental in deciding the race result. As for Albon, he hit a bollard late on but was able to continue to the end, but did not have the pace to move up the order. "We had better race pace today than in practice but ultimately, we’re still quite far off the pace of our rivals. We made a few changes which made the car more drivable, and we were fighting cars we did not expect to fight, which is a positive sign. However, sadly a PU issue meant my car suddenly switched off. It's clear we are not where we want to be in terms of performance, but we’re bringing a small upgrade to Silverstone which will hopefully put us back in a more competitive position.” “It’s been a poor weekend overall; we simply did not have the pace to compete with the midfield. We struggled with tyre deg and lacked pace throughout the medium and high-speed corners, so there is plenty to analyse ahead of the next race. We are currently experimenting and covering every avenue to find performance before our upgrades arrive. Looking ahead to Silverstone, we’ll bring a small upgrade package that we hope will move us closer to the likes of Haas and VCARB, so we’re hopeful these updates will be the start of us moving in the right direction." “It was a tough day in these warmer conditions, with the car not in the place we need it to be at the moment - we were simply unable to fight for points. For Carlos, unfortunately, it looks like we may have had a PU issue, which resulted in the car shutting down on the straight. We will investigate the fault, however Mercedes have always been incredible at making sure we bring performance and reliability, so I have no doubt we'll be in a strong place come next week. "What I was pleased to see is our pit stops were on point today. Well done to the team, who have been working diligently over the last 6 months - the dividends from that are paying off. "Looking ahead, Silverstone is one of the races where we're bringing small upgrades and hope to take a step forward relative to the field. It's at difficult times like this that we pull together, reset, and come back swinging." 0/2Next imageAston Martin Aston Martin had a tough Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, with only one car making it to the flag. Stroll retired midway through the race with an ERS issue, and while Alonso finished, he was last and three laps down and picked up a time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Plenty of work to do for the team ahead of their home race next time out. “Another tough race weekend for us, but nothing we didn’t expect. It was valuable to finish the race, continue collecting data, and keep improving operationally. We have made some progress in some of these areas over recent weeks and can hopefully continue so that we are ready when our upgrade arrives. Now, we look ahead to our home race next week at Silverstone, where we will aim to maximise everything in front of our supporters.” “I felt comfortable in the car today and enjoyed my second stint as we managed the tyres well. We always knew we wouldn’t be up in the fight with anyone, but it was a good race between Fernando and myself. Unfortunately, we had a suspected ERS issue, which we need to look into further, and had to retire the car. We know it’s a very challenging time for everyone in the team, but everybody is working as a hard as they can to bring upgrades to the car so we need to be patient and hopefully in a few races time we will be a bit more in the mix.” Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer “A hot afternoon in Austria where we completed the race with Fernando in P18. We focussed on extracting the maximum from the car knowing that it would be difficult to compete with the cars ahead of us. Lance and Fernando were racing closely for most of the afternoon – running line astern until we had to retire Lance’s car with a suspected ERS issue on lap 46.” 0/2Next imageCadillac Cadillac have suffered with overheating issues at points this season, so with temperatures rising here, it was perhaps no surprise when Bottas parked up very early with what appeared to be a brake fire. The team doused his car with a fire extinguisher, but a couple of laps later Perez was in for the same issue. That was their first double DNF of the season, with Bottas having not now finished a race since Canada. “Today was very unfortunate. In the traffic the brakes overheated and we had to retire. We were really in the mix and had the pace to fight with the Williams — I overtook Alex [Albon] on track so it’s a massive shame that we couldn’t make the most of it today. We really need to go deep on analysis and see what we can figure out for Silverstone.” “We knew that this is one of the most challenging tracks for the brakes and with these high temperatures. We didn’t see any issues when we completed more laps during practice and then suddenly two laps into the race my brakes overheated. It's now the third DNF in a row for me, so this is the number one thing we need to get on top of as a team. We need to finish the races to learn more, so this will be our focus going forward.” “This has been a challenging weekend, but it's in these moments that a team shows its resilience and strength. The whole team is working incredibly hard and we will continue to do so — there are no short-cuts in Formula 1. We need to investigate what has happened and move forward. We have made progress in terms of pace and the gap from the rear of the field is growing, but we need to ensure we have the reliability to demonstrate it. The next few days will be very busy, but I have every confidence in the team to come back stronger in Silverstone.” 0/2Next imagePirelli Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director “All three compounds available came into play today in the two- and three-stop strategies adopted by the teams at Spielberg. As expected, a one-stop strategy was not viable due to the high level of thermal degradation. "The two-stop strategies, on Hard and Medium tyres, were largely determined by the sets of tyres available to each team, carried over from Friday. The most effective approach proved to be the one that used Hard tyres for the final two stints, as adopted by the podium finishers. "Ferrari once again tried something different, stopping three times and also using the Soft, which, aided by a lower fuel load, delivered a solid performance. "While the first stop for the Ferrari drivers and Gasly was brought forward to exploit the undercut, the rest of the grid followed the pit windows we had anticipated. Conversely, the overcut attempted by some did not produce the desired results. "Even the VSC caused by Sainz did not change the picture, except perhaps for Antonelli, who pitted slightly early, losing the time advantage of stopping under neutralised conditions. "With such high track temperatures, the tyres experienced neither graining nor blistering, a sign that the development work carried out by Pirelli is clearly paying off on track.” F1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited