Verstappen reflects on 'extremely positive' Austrian Grand Prix after taking Red Bull's best result of 2026 season

Max Verstappen reflected on an "extremely positive" Austrian Grand Prix, as the Red Bull driver finished on the heels of winner George Russell in Sunday's race.

Verstappen started P5 for the 71-lap Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring having suffered a crash on his final Qualifying effort, but the four-time World Champion soon began to make progress.

The Dutchman disposed of Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes and Charles Leclerc's Ferrari in one move at Turn 4 on Lap 2 and moved ahead of Lewis Hamilton on Lap 22 after the first round of pit stops.

Verstappen's pace moved him to within striking distance of Russell for the lead, but staying out longer before making his final pit stop meant he was left with too much work to do in the final stint, falling short by 1.6s at the chequered flag.

"I think it was of course a very good race for us," said Verstappen, who claimed his best result of the season so far with P2.

"The first few laps were quite fun and then it was trying to manage your tyres and honestly, I think the car was in quite a good window for I would say half of the race.

"Then we picked up let's say a few issues with the car which prevented me from basically finding that nice rhythm. But still, to be second and close to a win I think is extremely positive for us. So in that sense, I'm very happy."

Red Bull arrived in Spielberg this weekend with a raft of upgrades which seemed to make the RB22 competitive against the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.

Verstappen's Red Bull team mate Isack Hadjar also enjoyed a productive Sunday, the Frenchman finishing sixth having moved ahead of Leclerc and McLaren's Lando Norris from his original starting position, claiming "the upgrades definitely kicked in this weekend, you could feel it.

"I think from P8 it was nearly the best that we could have done," said Hadjar. "I think we had a car to finish fourth but from P8 you want to be aggressive, pit early, I was running out of tyres at the end of each of my stints."