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Talking Bull
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Hear from the drivers in Spielberg
2 min
Hear from the drivers in Spielberg
Double delight for the Team in its backyard as Max secures a podium and Isack finishes in P6
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The Team's Results
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Home heroics hand Max P2, Isack sixth
Max served up some spectacular home heroics as he bounced back from yesterday’s qualifying calamity to take a superb second podium finish of 2026 at the Red Bull Ring.
After crashing out on his final flying lap in qualifying on Saturday, Max faced a tough Sunday test from P5 on the grid in his rebuilt RB22. But as soon as the lights went out, both he and Isack had a good start off the line.
At the start of lap two, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli locked up while attempting to go around the outside of Charles Leclerc into Turn 1. The Mercedes driver ran off track, but after rejoining ahead of the Ferrari man, he moved across to hand the place back. Max sensed the opportunity, and as Kimi and Charles jostled for position on the run to Turn 4, Max swept around both to jump from fifth to third, behind Lewis Hamilton and race leader George Russell.
Further back, Isack was also charging forward. On lap four, the Frenchman went around the outside of the VCARB of Liam Lawson at Turn 4 to reclaim eighth place.
Max then began to close on Lewis, who was struggling with oversteer, before muscling past him on the inside of turn 3 on lap 11. Lewis fought back immediately, edging back ahead through Turn 4. Max stayed with him around the outside of the following corners, but after dipping a wheel into the dirt at Turn 6, the Dutchman was forced to back out of the fight and regroup for another push.
Lewis’s tyres were beginning to fade, though, and just two laps later the Ferrari driver dived into the pit lane to switch to Hard tyres, Leclerc followed suit, briefly promoting Isack to P6.
Max made his first stop on lap 19, swapping Mediums for Hards in a sharp 2.4-second stop.
And it was the quick stop by the pit crew that meant he would emerge only a second behind Lewis when exiting the pit lane, eager to regain the spot. On lap 22, Max again launched a move at Turn 3. Lewis retook the place at Turn 4, but this time Max kept the pressure on, tucked in behind the Ferrari and dived down the inside at Turn 6. Once ahead, he firmly shut the door on the seven-time champion. He was now just over four seconds behind race leader George Russell and keen to take top spot.
Isack made his first stop on lap 20 and, running an offset strategy, bolted on another set of Medium tyres for a second stint that would take him through to lap 41 when he would make a final switch to Hard tyres.
However, on lap 25, Williams’ Carlos Sainz ground to a halt beside the pit wall, triggering a Virtual Safety Car adding some interesting drama for an already exciting race. Neither Bull decided to pit and stayed out for track position, keeping to an already competitive strategy.
At half distance, Max began to reel in George. By lap 35 the gap had fallen to 3.5 seconds, and three laps later he was just 1.8s behind the Mercedes.
George blinked first, and three laps later he made his final stop of the race, taking on another set of Hard tyres. The Team opted to keep Max out, once again searching for a tyre offset that could give him an attacking edge in the closing stages.
Max’s final stop came on lap 50. After fitting his final set of Hard tyres, he rejoined 10.9s behind George but with rubber seven laps newer than the Mercedes driver’s. It was now a straight fight to the flag.
Behind the leaders, Kimi’s final stop left him in P3, two seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Lewis fifth ahead of Charles, who had Isack just a second behind.
On lap 56, Isack made his move. After going wheel to wheel with Charles on the run from Turn 3, both drivers locked up into the following corner. Isack got the better exit, and as they charged towards Turn 5, he powered past the Ferrari to take sixth place, leaving him only four seconds behind Lewis.
At the front, Max was beginning to close in on George, and with 12 laps remaining, the Dutchman had cut the gap from almost 11 seconds to 5.7 seconds.
Over the following 10 laps, Max powered to within 3.5s of George, but the Dutchman wasn’t the only driver on a march, and in the closing stages, Kimi began to pile pressure on the four-time World Champion. It was now a battle on two fronts: trying to edge closer to George but also trying to fend off Kimi behind.
And though Max was able to manage both fights, he couldn’t get close enough to George to force a mistake, and after 71 intensely hot, flat-out laps, the Dutchman took his second podium of the season just 1.6 seconds behind race winner Russell and with three tenths of a second in hand over Antonelli.
“It was a very good race for us,” said Max afterwards. “The first two laps were quite fun, and then it was basically just trying to manage your tyres. The car was in quite a good window for, I would say, half of the race, and then we just picked up a few issues that prevented me from finding that nice rhythm. But still, to be second, that close to a win, is extremely positive for us. So, for sure, I’m very happy.”
Fourth place went to Oscar, with Lewis ahead of sixth-placed Isack, who finished just three seconds behind the seven-time champion at the flag. Charles was eighth, and the final points positions went to the VCARB pair of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad.
More points on the board for the Team as we head into the second part of the double-header and the home of British motorsport, Silverstone.
It was a very good race for us today. The first two laps were quite fun and the first half felt really good and fun to drive. Then it was basically just about trying to manage our tyres, especially after the battles with Lewis. Something happened with the rear axle which made me lose pace which is why I was not able to fight at the end. In hindsight we could have done the undercut to jump ahead and I think I had the degradation edge over George but overall I am pleased with P2. We did some good racing and I didn’t expect us to be that strong against the Mercedes. It was a great effort from the team: they have worked really hard to get the upgrades to the car so thank you very much to everyone. It was better than expected and the race pace was a lot better than we thought. I didn’t think we would fight for the win when I jumped in the car this morning, so to finish sitting here in the top 3 is a really positive result for us!
l was happy with my race start, it was a big improvement from Barcelona. Starting from eighth, we had a very aggressive race. I was running out of tyres at the end of my stints, so it was probably not the fastest race for me, but I still managed to gain two places. You could feel the upgrade in the race pace, and I think we had the second quickest car today so I was very happy with that. I still need to feel more comfortable in the car to extract the most from it, but it is the best race car we’ve had so far, and it is delivering. I think on a cooler track, hopefully next week, we can be a bit more competitive again.
