George Russell hit by FIA deleted lap ruling at Austrian Grand Prix

Photo: © IMAGO

Austrian Grand Prix

George Russell hit by FIA deleted lap ruling at Austrian Grand Prix

The FIA's deleted laps caused confusion in Austria

By Kerry Violet.

Sunday 28 June 2026 17:02

F1's governing body, the FIA, have confirmed George Russell was one of nine drivers hit by a deleted lap ruling during qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix.

In the final moments of Saturday's fight for pole position, it was Ferrari star Charles Leclerc who looked set to take the top spot on the grid for Sunday's main race.

However, shortly after the Monegasque star appeared to have clinched pole, Max Verstappen pushed too hard into Turn 9 and sent his RB22 straight through the gravel and into the wall.

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Initially, only a single yellow flag was waved following Verstappen's crash, causing George Russell to lift and exercise caution, and though this didn't stop him from securing pole, he had his in-lap deleted soon after once double-waved yellows had been wheeled out.

Kimi Antonelli on the other hand thought a double-waved yellow had been issued instantly, causing him to abandon his lap and with it, his chance of securing a spot on the front row.

FIA confirm deleted lap count at Austrian GP

Following Saturday's qualifying, F1's governing body revealed that all the drivers who made it into the top 10 aside from Verstappen were caught out by the eventual double-waved yellows.

All nine stars had laps deleted at Turn 9 due to their cars having passed through a double-waved yellow flag marshalling sector.

As these were all in-laps not flying laps, none of the deleted times have impacted the final qualifying order.

Below is the FIA's full list of deleted lap times from the 2026 Austrian GP qualifying:

FIA Austrian GP qualifying deleted laps
No.	Turn	Car	Driver	Competitor	Time of Day	Lap Time
1	9	6	Isack Hadjar	Oracle Red Bull Racing	17:00:45	PIT
2	9	44	Lewis Hamilton	Scuderia Ferrari HP	17:00:56	PIT
3	9	30	Liam Lawson	Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team	17:01:04	PIT
4	9	16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari HP	17:01:15	PIT
5	9	1	Lando Norris	McLaren Mastercard F1 Team	17:01:23	PIT
6	9	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mastercard F1 Team	17:01:30	PIT
7	9	41	Arvid Lindblad	Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team	17:01:42	PIT
8	9	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team	17:01:58	PIT
9	9	63	George Russell	Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team	17:02:04	PIT

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

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F1 Max Verstappen Mercedes FIA George Russell Charles Leclerc