George Russell reveals 'abnormal' strategy stopped Max Verstappen from winning

George Russell and Max Verstappen in Austin — Photo: © IMAGO

Austrian Grand Prix

George Russell reveals 'abnormal' strategy stopped Max Verstappen from winning

George Russell has admitted to driving his Mercedes a little differently in Austria

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 30 June 2026 13:59

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Mercedes F1 driver George Russell has revealed the 'very different' driving style that allowed him to defeat Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Russell took a stunning pole position-race victory double at the Red Bull Ring last weekend, boosting his chances of claiming the drivers' championship by decreasing the gap in the standings to rival Kimi Antonelli to 40 points.

In the race at Spielberg, Russell had to hold off a challenge from Antonelli and, surprisingly given Red Bull's form for much of 2026, four-time world champion Verstappen.

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The Dutchman looked able to challenge for the race victory despite having started fifth, and ended up just 1.6 seconds behind Russell by the time of the chequered flag.

Now, Russell has revealed what allowed him to defeat Verstappen and Antonelli, admitting that he has changed up his approach to race weekends since his dismal performances earlier in the year.

Russell suffered four podium-less races in a row between the Japanese GP until the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, losing ground quickly to Antonelli in the fight for the championship.

F1 RESULTS: Austrian Grand Prix final classification with all penalties applied

Russell's change of approach

Russell has admitted that he raced Sunday's race 'abnormally', suggesting that his approach has completely changed in the last couple of race weekends.

"The team have done a really incredible job to sort of put some real answers down for why the performances were not good," Russell told media after the race. "It wasn’t like I came away from… Monaco and Montreal were two really tough races for me, and I didn’t leave either of them looking at the data thinking, 'Where is the issue?'

"It was clear what the problem was, and it was clear how we could maybe solve that. And when we perhaps looked through some historical data, there were some trends of this, and it’s all just been exacerbated with this new car.

"So, coming into this race weekend, I think maybe my previous approach, it would have really hurt me on a track like this. And I drove the race very different and quite abnormally, to be honest, to manage the tyres, and it worked quite well. So, I need to get this further understanding.

"Last year, we were eight years into that, or four years into those tyres that we were running with, and I think I really knew in my locker how to handle the tyres at hot tracks, cold tracks, smooth surface, rough surfaces. And this year, I don’t, to be honest. So, I’m rebuilding that. But yeah, the team who’s done a great job to sort of steer me in the right direction."

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Mercedes George Russell Austrian Grand Prix