Hamilton Holds Off Verstappen in Feisty Lap 11 Duel at the Red Bull Ring

The Battle for Second Place

The 2026 Austrian Grand Prix delivered one of the season's most compelling on-track duels in its opening phase, as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen resumed their long-running rivalry in the Styrian hills. Hamilton and Verstappen went wheel-to-wheel on lap 11, millimetres apart whilst battling for P2 in the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix, with the Briton winning out on that occasion. ^[1]

How It Unfolded

Verstappen, who had crashed during the final phase of qualifying, started fifth for Red Bull Racing. ^[3] He made swift progress through the early laps before closing on Hamilton's Ferrari. The Red Bull driver wasted no time in making progress by overtaking Kimi Antonelli at Turn 5, before passing Charles Leclerc the following corner, and subsequently closing in on Hamilton. This set up an aggressive fight between the former title rivals with Verstappen lunging down the inside of Turn 3 on lap 11, before Hamilton fought back at Turn 5 and completed his move the following corner. ^[2]

Verstappen made his first attempt to pass Hamilton at Turn 3 on lap 11, but Hamilton responded through Turns 5 and 6, forcing Verstappen onto the gravel on the exit of the corner. Verstappen complained over team radio that Hamilton should have received a penalty. ^[3] On lap 15 of the 71-lap grand prix, the FIA announced that Hamilton had been noted for forcing another driver off the track at Turn 6. The stewards later decided Hamilton had done nothing wrong, however, with no further action or penalty coming for the Ferrari driver. ^[6]

The Bigger Picture

It put Verstappen onto the gravel at the exit, prompting complaints from the four-time world champion, before the fight resumed after the first pit window where drivers kept position. Verstappen finally took second from Hamilton by again going down the inside of the Turn 3 hairpin on lap 22, before the Ferrari driver reclaimed position at Turn 5. ^[4] Hamilton was the first of the front-runners to make a pit stop, changing from medium to hard tyres at the end of lap 12. ^[3]

:::analysis The sequence illuminates a broader competitive reality from the Red Bull Ring weekend. Verstappen, coming from fifth on the grid after his qualifying crash, needed clean air and clear track to recover. Hamilton, starting third in his Ferrari, was defending a position the team needed to make a two-stop strategy work. The stewards' no-action verdict on the Turn 6 incident was consistent with F1's established principle that a defending driver is entitled to the racing line through a corner, provided they do not make a late, unpredictable move. Whether or not Red Bull had grounds for a grievance, the sequence produced exactly the kind of racing the Red Bull Ring's short, punchy layout tends to generate. :::

Race Outcome

Antonelli wasn't far behind Verstappen at the finish, just 0.3 seconds back, while a further 19.823 seconds off the podium was fourth-placed Piastri, with Hamilton completing the top five. ^[2] Antonelli leads the championship on 171 points, 40 clear of second-placed Russell, who has moved ahead of third-placed Hamilton with 125 points. ^[4]

Related reading

• Tire degradation at the Red Bull Ring
• The undercut: how strategy shapes the Austrian Grand Prix