We have arrived to the Red Bull Ring for round 8 of the 2026 season. The Austrian Grand Prix welcomes F1, F2 and F3 for what will undoubtedly be an action filled weekend.
Flashback to Barcelona
Round 7 was very pivotal for both F1 and F2. Ferrari made huge improvements, seeing Lewis Hamilton take a charge for domination once again. He secured his first win with Ferrari and now sits second in the championship. The podium in Spain was completed by George Russell and Lando Norris, after Kimi Antonelli suffered a technical issue during the race.
Mercedes have had a defiant start to their season, seeing every race until Barcelona being won by one of their own. Antonelli, in his second F1 season, is quickly becoming a record breaker. Taking 5-in-a-row, and out-performing his teammate, the young Italian will be aiming to restore what was lost during the Barcelona Grand Prix.
In F2, the circuit was triumphed by Kush Maini during the sprint race and Rafael Câmara for the feature race. Their championship is ramping up, with Gabriele Mini still maintaining the top spot 6 points ahead of Nikola Tsolov. The rookie, Tsolov, has taken home three wins so far this season, continuing to put the pressure on the competition.
F3 last race weekend was full of action. Saturday was dominated by James Wharton, and Sunday saw Theophile Naël convert pole to victory. Naël now sits second in the championship behind Ugo Ugochukwu.
Temperatures Soar
Spielberg has received a weather warning for high temperatures. Summer has officially begun in Europe and with that, many areas are being hit with a substantial heat wave. F1 races at many hot countries during the season, meaning that the FIA have rules and measures set in place for situations such as this.
The heat hazard warning came into place when data indicated temperatures of 31° Celsius or above during the race weekend. Teams were notified of these temperatures and now require fitting Driver Cooling Systems. In this instance, the cooling system is a cooling vest that each driver can wear under their race suit.
The choice to wear the vest is down to the driver, who can opt not to wear it, if they so choose. However, if a driver chooses not to compete in one, the team must compensate for the weight difference into the car. The FIA states that 0.5kg must be added to the cockpit for any driver who doesn’t wear one. Other measures on the car itself are always available to the driver, including access to water.
Ready for the Weekend
Austria is one of the shorter circuits on the calendar at only 4.33km. During their year of untouched dominance, Oscar Piastri set the new lap record for the circuit in his McLaren; a time of 1:07.924. No Sprint means F1 will enjoy three Free Practice sessions.
McLaren took both pole and a double-podium during last years race, however they require serious improvements to replicate this again. Eyes will be on Hamilton this weekend, to see if he can continue his current form. Max Verstappen is a fan favourite at this circuit, the orange army hoping he will find the pace during the 71-lap showdown.