Five things to look out for at the F1 Austrian GP

Formula 1 enjoyed one of its biggest feel-good stories of the 2026 campaign last time out at the Barcelona Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton finally tasted victory for Ferrari.

The seven-time world champion took the chequered flag on his 31st start for the Scuderia to give Ferrari its first race win since the end of 2024, ending Mercedes’ perfect start to 2026.

It leaves Hamilton second in the championship and 41 points behind his Silver Arrows successor Kimi Antonelli, who retired late on in Barcelona to make the championship wide open.

Next up is Austria this weekend with the European leg of the calendar now firmly under way, so how will the next development of this 2026 campaign play out?

Here are five things to watch out for.

Reliability concerns growing at Mercedes

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

It might be strange to say, but there’s always been a blemish in the Mercedes dominance of the 2026 F1 campaign. To begin with it was race starts, as championship leader Antonelli lost 18 positions on lap one across the opening three rounds while team-mate George Russell dropped back five positions.

Tweaks were subsequently made to the race starts procedure, alongside other areas of the new-for-2026 regulations, and this helped the Silver Arrows to overcome their poor getaways.

Yet as one issue went, another one arrived: reliability. That is specifically regarding the power unit battery as it has caused Russell and Antonelli to retire at Montreal and Barcelona respectively, across the last three rounds.

That has cost the team approximately 43 points and with Ferrari, especially Hamilton, now closing in, Mercedes knows it needs to overcome this growing reliability concern quickly. But it is unlikely the “proper cure”, per Mercedes on its Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show, will be ready for Austria as the team hasn’t given a timeline for it. So one to look out for.

- Ed Hardy

Is Lewis Hamilton’s form genuine?

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images

On the last three Sundays, Hamilton achieved his best three results over his 31 grands prix at Ferrari – second in Canada and Monaco, then a win on merit at Barcelona.

Is this a mere sunny spell, or is Hamilton emerging as a bona fide victory – or even title – contender?

The seven-time world champion has admitted to wondering if he had lost his mojo amid his 2025 struggles, but F1’s new machinery suits him better. He also stopped using Ferrari’s simulator and is adamant this greatly contributed to his upturn in form.

Another decisive change at Ferrari was race engineer Riccardo Adami being replaced with Carlo Santi, with whom Hamilton has found his “Italian Bono” - referring to Mercedes’ Peter Bonnington, who contributed to the Mercedes star’s overwhelming success in the 2010s.

“The changes that I’ve asked for and pushed for all last year have been made and I now have the right team around me, I now have the right car around me, and now I can start doing what I do best,” Hamilton said after triumphing on the Catalan track.

He just needs to prove it at the Red Bull Ring, which has historically been among his less favourable grounds – he won just two out of 14 races in Styria, a 14% success rate, down from 27% across all circuits. Meanwhile, Ferrari’s sole moment of glory since the track returned to the F1 calendar came in 2022 with Charles Leclerc.

- Ben Vinel

The Red Bull Ring couldn't come at a better time for Leclerc

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Leclerc badly needs a reset as the Ferrari driver has endured a difficult run of form in recent weeks. Since signing a new multi-year deal ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, little has gone his way. Arguably, the downturn had already started before then, but Monaco proved particularly painful as Leclerc crashed in both qualifying and the race at his home event.

Things did not improve in Barcelona. Another qualifying accident left Leclerc admitting he felt "ashamed" of his mistake, before hydraulic problems on Sunday forced him into retirement.

In contrast, team-mate Hamilton has scarcely put a foot wrong. Three consecutive podiums, including victory last time out, have at least moved him into the mathematical championship fight.

If there is a venue capable of helping Leclerc turn things around, though, it may well be the Red Bull Ring. The Austrian circuit has traditionally been one of his strongest tracks, having started from the front row three times, as well as three podiums in the last four seasons there, including victory in 2022.

With Ferrari still searching for consistency, Spielberg may represent Leclerc's best opportunity yet to halt the slide and rebuild momentum.

- Federico Faturos

McLaren dropping back

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

The 2025 Austrian GP was one of domination from McLaren as that year’s world champion finished 1-2 at the Red Bull Ring and at least 17s clear of the rest of the field. That added to a dominant start to the campaign for the Woking outfit, which picked up its eighth win in 11 grands prix…but how things have changed 12 months on.

Although McLaren has enjoyed a respectable start to its title defence, sitting third in the championship, recent rounds have been highly disappointing. At round four in Miami, the British marque was looking on a par with Ferrari as the nearest challenger to Mercedes but since then, upgrades have allowed the Scuderia to streak clear leaving McLaren in its own world.

Barcelona was evident of that, as Lando Norris finished third - thanks to Antonelli’s late retirement - and 23.7s behind Hamilton. McLaren is therefore scratching its head at how it can get back amongst the front with a now 49-point deficit to second-placed Ferrari.

“Everyone back in the factory is doing the best they can,” said Norris. “Some things take time, but we need to really accelerate the progress at the minute because we want to stay in the fight.”

It’s unlikely that McLaren will suddenly overturn that Barcelona deficit in Austria, but how it tries to close in on Mercedes and Ferrari will be an interesting development. Particularly as fourth-placed Red Bull is planning on bringing upgrades to its home grand prix.

- Ed Hardy

First signs of ADUO upgrades

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, George Russell, Mercedes, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Marcel van Dorst / EYE4images / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Even though the numbers aren't officially in, as Red Bull is still quibbling over the definition of what constitutes 'the most powerful engine' per the FIA's findings, Ferrari has already been granted its two ADUO tokens and is free to spend them.

One is set to be traded in at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, as the team has reworked its steel-alloy cylinder block to theoretically run at even higher temperatures. This should improve efficiency and confer a small increase in power, as the block takes on less heat energy from the combustion of the air-fuel mix, thus putting that energy into more mechanical work. It's likely worth around 5-10bhp, a nonetheless useful addition to help the team close in on Mercedes.

Ferrari should be strong in the corners around the Red Bull Ring, and the expected increase in power should allow it to minimise the time loss to Mercedes on the straights.

Can Hamilton start to build some momentum towards a championship charge, and can Leclerc bring himself back into contention after a couple of miserable rounds? Ferrari certainly hopes so.

- Jake Boxall-Legge