George Russell has admitted he adopted an unconventional driving style to claim victory at the Austrian Grand Prix and secure his second win of the 2026 season.
The Mercedes driver converted his pole position into a race win at the Red Bull Ring, closing the gap to championship leader Kimi Antonelli to 40 points heading into the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
Russell’s victory was far from comfortable, with Max Verstappen applying consistent pressure throughout the race while Antonelli also appeared to hold a slight edge on raw pace.
The win followed a difficult run of results for Russell, including a power unit failure while leading in Canada, making the Austrian triumph feel particularly significant to the 28-year-old.
“The tough races definitely test you psychologically, and these last two weekends for me have been vitally important to remind myself I can do it,” he said.
Russell acknowledged the mental challenge of competing alongside his highly impressive team-mate, who has delivered consistently strong performances throughout the new regulations era.
“I’ve got a really incredible team-mate next to me, who week in, week out is delivering some pretty spectacular performances,” he said, reflecting on the pressure of racing alongside Antonelli.
He added: “So, to get the last two poles, to get the win here this weekend, especially on a track which I don’t think is so suited to me, I’m really proud.”
Despite the victory, Russell conceded he is still not fully comfortable with the 2026 Mercedes and is actively rebuilding his understanding of how to manage tyres across different conditions.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself, knowing I can do it. I have less confidence in being able to get everything aligned with the car, the set-up and the tyres, because it’s just been so up and down for me,” he said.
Russell explained that Mercedes identified clear problems within his previous approach and used historical data to understand what was going wrong with the new car package.
“The team has done a really incredible job to put some real answers down as to why the performances were not good,” he explained, crediting the work done between both sides heading into Austria.
He revealed that adjusting his race approach entirely was what ultimately unlocked the result on a hot afternoon at the Red Bull Ring during the gruelling grand prix.
“Coming into this race weekend maybe my previous approach would have really hurt me on a track like this. And I drove the race very differently and quite abnormally, to be honest, to manage the tyres, and it worked quite well,” he said.
Russell’s honesty about his current limitations with the 2026 car underlines how significant the regulation changes have been for drivers trying to extract maximum performance.
“Last year, I really knew how to handle the tyres on hot tracks, cold tracks, smooth surfaces, rough surfaces. And this year, I don’t, to be honest. So, I’m rebuilding that,” he concluded.