Why Hamilton's Austrian Grand Prix record makes uncomfortable reading

The seven-time world champion arrives into Austria on the back of one of the biggest highs of his 19-year career, taking his first victory for Ferrari at the Barcelona Grand Prix. The victory has led some to back him to win a record-breaking eighth F1 title. He will be hoping for a repeat of his Barcelona performance so he can close the 41-point gap to championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

However, the Red Bull Ring has not been the kindest to Hamilton, with the Brit struggling for wins, podiums or even beating his teammates on one of the sport's shortest tracks over the past 12 years.

Hamilton in his 12 Austrian GP races, has surprisingly only won the race on one occasion. That came in 2016 when he passed Nico Rosberg on the very last lap, with the two teammates making contact, leaving the German to trail home fourth.

The Brit did win on the same track in 2020, however that race was under the Styrian Grand Prix name, after he finished fourth one week later at the official Austrian Grand Prix name, during the Covid-19 affected season.

Even more surprisingly, Hamilton has actually only finished on the podium once since his last Austrian GP win in 2016. That came with a third-place finish behind Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen in 2022.

Despite Hamilton's domination between 2017 and 2020, it was a period where the former Mercedes driver struggled in Spielberg. In 2017 he finished fourth after starting eighth following a gearbox penalty.

He then suffered a rare Mercedes DNF in 2018 due to a fuel pressure issue. In 2019 the Mercedes struggled for pace and Hamilton had to change his front wing after running over the sausage kerb at Turn 1 repeatedly, before finishing in fifth place.

In 2020, Hamilton did finish second on track but was handed a five-second penalty after causing a collision with Alex Albon's Red Bull. He was also on for a second-place finish behind title rival Verstappen in 2021, but struggled after suffering floor damage, relegating him to fourth behind Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris due to a lack of pace and heavy tyre wear.

Hamilton finished eighth in 2023 after receiving a track limits penalty, and then fourth in both 2024 and 2025 in much more uneventful races.

Hamilton's underwhelming record against teammates in Austria will give Leclerc some hope after some recent difficult races. Hamilton has only finished ahead of a teammate once at the Austrian Grand Prix, with a stunning 10-1 record in favour of his teammates since 2014.

Hamilton finished behind Nico Rosberg in 2014 and 2015, Valtteri Bottas in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021, George Russell in 2023 and 2024 and Charles Leclerc last season.

The qualifying head-to-head is not much better, with a 8-4 record in favour of his teammates.

Qualifying: Hamilton 4-8 Teammates

Race: Hamilton 2-9 Teammates (Neither Hamilton or Bottas finished in 2018)