Who heads to the Austrian Grand Prix smiling and who is under pressure?

Last season's race saw Lando Norris beat Oscar Piastri in a McLaren 1-2, but things have changed in 2026 with Mercedes being the best car for the majority of the season so far. However, they might now have found their challenger in Lewis Hamilton, who took his first win for Ferrari at the Barcelona Grand Prix.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli's DNF in Barcelona means he now has a 41 point gap ahead of Hamilton at the top of the standings, with teammate George Russell nine points further back in third.

The seven-time world champion will be the happiest driver in Formula One after winning his first race for Ferrari last time out. He is not only getting the better of his teammate Charles Leclerc after a difficult 2025 season, but also appears to be in with a chance of winning his eighth world championship.

Hamilton has only won the Austrian Grand Prix on one occasion (despite also winning the Styrian Grand Prix in 2020). However, he is arguably driving at his highest level since he last fought for the title against Max Verstappen in 2021. If Ferrari can bring over their pace from Barcelona into Austria, Hamilton will stand a strong chance of victory.

Perhaps a surprise choice given he is seventh in the championship and has only finished on the podium once this season. However, if there is any track Verstappen will do well on, it appears to be the Red Bull Ring.

Verstappen holds the all-time record for number of wins at the Austrian Grand Prix with four, five if you include the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix. Since joining Red Bull in 2016, when he has finished the Austrian Grand Prix, he has only finished off the podium once - a fifth place finish in 2024 after suffering a puncture in a collision with Lando Norris.

Pierre Gasly and Alpine are having a very strong 2026 season, with the Frenchman scoring points in every race, except for Miami where he retired. Gasly was promoted to a podium place in Monaco, and finished a very respectable seventh in Barcelona. Gasly is eighth in the standings with 41 points and will fancy his chances of scoring more points this weekend.

The Monegasque is in the biggest slump of his Formula One career. Leclerc lost points with a late crash in Miami, crashed out of the Monaco Grand Prix, crashed in qualifying for the Barcelona GP, and ultimately scored no points in Spain after a late mechanical DNF.

Meanwhile, he appears to have lost the advantage at Ferrari to Hamilton, after convincingly beating the seven-time world champion in 2025. Leclerc is desperate for a strong result and needs to start beating Hamilton, otherwise he will be playing second fiddle to the Brit in a potential title challenge.

It is perhaps controversial to say that a team that won six of the opening seven races are under pressure. However, Ferrari's win in Barcelona will be a wake-up call for the Brackley outfit.

Both Kimi Antonelli and George Russell have also been plagued with reliability issues in recent races, something that will concern the two drivers who are both hoping to win their first drivers' championship. Mercedes are optimistic that they are over their reliability woes.

Aston Martin will face continuous pressure until they sort out their car, with former F1 team principal Guenther Steiner commenting that they "make Cadillac look good" and are not up to "F1 standards".

A B-spec car could be on the way in Zandvoort, something which can't come soon enough for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who are both far from pleased with their slow and unreliable car.