Pirelli will bring its softest tyre range to this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, with C3 as the hard, C4 as the medium and C5 as the soft amid expectations of high track temperatures.

Racing Bulls has confirmed Liam Lawson will sit out first practice at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, with Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa driving in FP1 at the Red Bull Ring. It will be Iwasa’s second Formula 1 practice outing of 2026, after running in Isack Hadjar’s car for Red Bull in Spain.

Audi has confirmed Alpine reserve Paul Aron will take over Gabriel Bortoleto’s car for FP1 at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix. Aron, who previously appeared in FP1 for Sauber last year and drove for Audi earlier this month in Barcelona in place of Nico Hulkenberg, is being used as part of F1’s requirement for teams to run rookies in four practice sessions across the season. With this outing, both Bortoleto and Hulkenberg will have sat out one FP1 session each and must miss one more later in the year.
Liam Lawson says Red Bull created a false narrative that he was “mentally struggling” when he was dropped from the senior team after two races in 2025 and sent back to Racing Bulls. Lawson said: "The whole thing was played out to be me being mentally struggling and all this stuff, and like they were doing it to protect me. That honestly just could not be further from what it was actually like... I spent two races there, and the way it all went down was just so crazy that I honestly was like, I'm just going to pretend I never even went there."
Lewis Hamilton says his fans, family and friends “rescued” him during what he describes as a nightmare first season at Ferrari, when he failed to score a podium in any grand prix. Hamilton said: "I really feel like my fans really rescued me last year, my family also, and friends that stuck with me through it all, and starting into a new season, a new year, lots and lots of changes enabled in the background me to get to this position that I'm in today. I just feel a lot of gratitude, a lot of pride."

Lando Norris says it was “pretty surreal” to see his Madame Tussauds wax figure finished, after the attraction unveiled a sculpture of the reigning F1 champion that will go on display in London from 30 June. Lando Norris said: "Seeing the figure finished and standing next to it is pretty surreal - it really is like looking at another version of me. I'm used to seeing myself in photos, videos or a reflection, but this is me in 3D. The artists have really nailed the details; it's so lifelike."

The Austrian Grand Prix weekend at the Red Bull Ring is forecast to be hot, clear and dry throughout, with no rain currently expected on any day. Friday should start warm and sunny, with air temperatures around 14-31°C, while Saturday is set to be similarly clear but hotter at roughly 15-32°C. Race day on Sunday is also expected to stay dry under clear skies, with temperatures again around 15-32°C and track temperatures potentially climbing into the low-50s.



Max Verstappen says Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli’s early-season form has been “very impressive” and that he “could see that coming”. Verstappen said: "In general, at that age to be doing what he is doing and trying to find that consistency as well, it's very impressive. He's a great talent. I knew that. I could see that coming. In a rookie season, you have to make mistakes, but then it's about how you learn from them, and I think he's doing that very well."

McLaren’s Andrea Stella said the team’s new front wing needed a couple of races of understanding and further modifications before it could deliver performance. Stella said: "The front wing is a project that took a couple of races to understand exactly how to use it, what it was delivering. We took a couple of modifications since the first time we introduced it, and these modifications were effective. We are happy now with the performance and the correlation of the data compared to the development tools. We used it on both cars, and we think that this has handed lap time."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the Red Bull Ring could swing momentum back towards Mercedes at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, after Lewis Hamilton took his first Ferrari win in Barcelona earlier this month. Stella said: "Austria is a slightly different circuit. I would expect that Ferrari remains the faster car in the corners. Probably Mercedes over a single lap the best car overall when the chassis and the power unit are both considered."




Liam Lawson says Red Bull and Alpine treated him and Jack Doohan unfairly by dropping them after only a handful of races last season, arguing drivers cannot be properly judged over such a short run. Lawson said: "Jack Doohan, somebody who did five races, that is not fair to judge somebody. I had two in a Red Bull, but even five races as a whole is not fair to judge somebody in Formula One again in a season like last year. But I still had a drive, so that was what I tried to really focus on."

Lance Stroll says he “firmly” believes Aston Martin have the ingredients to become a winning team despite what he described as a difficult start to the 2026 season. Stroll said: "We've got some incredibly talented people at the AMR Technology Campus and there's huge potential with the tools like the new CoreWeave AIR Tunnel and the simulator. We have all the elements to become a winning team, it's just about unlocking that potential. I firmly believe in this project, even though right now we're experiencing some difficult times. The future is very bright and I want to ride this tough spell out and be part of the journey we're on."

Liam Lawson says his family’s sacrifices to support his racing career went beyond money, recalling a card his younger brother wrote to their father asking him to spend more time with him. Lawson said: "I feel like I'll never be able to almost repay the amount of sacrifice, and it's not just about money. My dad, my parents found this card recently, like a year ago, that my brother had written my dad… We found this card that he'd written when he was like five years old or six years old, and the card was like: 'Dear dad, if I like racing, will you spend more time with me, like Liam?'"

Jack Doohan says being dropped by Alpine was a “shock to the system” after he believed he was in a strong position, despite speculation he would be replaced by reserve driver Franco Colapinto. Doohan said: "It was obviously strange times. It was a weird 12 months of achieving that dream, having a three-year contract — you're never secure. But I thought I was in a strong position, even with the noise that was going around and the press. I was head down and trying to do my job... I was quite content, and then it was quite a shock to the system."

Alex Albon says 2030 is a realistic target for Williams to return to championship contention, backing the timeline set out by team principal James Vowles after what he described as a step back in performance this season. Albon said: "I think 2030 is [realistic], yes. I think that James is a realistic person. I think he doesn't try to fluff anything up. Obviously, we would appreciate if that was a little bit earlier than what it is. We've noticed this year that we are a bit further back than where we want to, and maybe it has set us back a little bit more. But I do believe in him when he says that."

Liam Lawson says competing in Formula 1 has come at the cost of his happiness, telling the High Performance Podcast he feels he will not be happy until he achieves his goals. Lawson said: "Probably just happiness. People probably think you're a lot happier because of the position I'm in. And don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't understand how lucky I am to be here. But because of that thing that we're so focussed and driven towards, I feel like I'm not happy until I do it. I have happy moments, for sure, it's not that I'm not happy all of the time, but overall in life at the moment."

George Russell says he is still waiting for the 2026 Mercedes to “click” for him in the way it already has for team-mate Kimi Antonelli. Russell said: "There always needs to be improvements, because when you're driving with a new car and new tyres, you need to evolve. I want to go back to that place where I'm subconsciously learning how. I'm not chasing those answers, because I know I can do it, and I've done it my whole career... Kimi is doing such an amazing job at the moment... it's clicking for him perfectly well, and I know it can click for me again, as it did in Melbourne."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin will stick with Adrian Newey’s “find the limit” design approach because the team believes it will unlock more performance from its struggling AMR26. Alonso said: "That is always his philosophy, to try to find the limit. When you find the limit, you go half a step back, and that's the way it is, and that's where we are at the moment. There are many different areas in the team that we are pushing the limits, knowing that maybe we could find immediate performance if we go back to a more known place, but we prefer to keep this philosophy in certain areas of the car. Because we believe that it will unlock more performance in the near future."


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