How to watch Austrian Grand Prix 2026 F1: Live Stream, Preview, Schedule, Starting Grid as Russell claims pole after Verstappen crash
Can Russell finally win a race after Australia or will Ferrari make it two wins in a row?
- Austrian GP (June 26-28)
- Sunday's race: 2pm BST / 9am ET
- Free streams: Apple TV (US) / ORF On (Austria) / RTBF Auvio (Belgium)
- Stream safely and securely with Proton VPN (try 100% risk-free)
Watch the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix live streams to find out if the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton can continue piling the pressure on the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. After DNFs in both Monaco and Barcelona, Leclerc bounced back strongly and was arguably the highlight of the qualifying session. The Monegasque briefly held provisional pole before it was snatched away by Russell.
But it was hardly a straightforward qualifying, with several drivers, including Hamilton and Antonelli, having to lift off the throttle after Max Verstappen crashed at Turn 9 in the final seconds of Q3. However, what initially looked like a double-waved yellow was in fact only a single-waved yellow, allowing Russell to coast through and claim pole, finishing 0.236 seconds clear of Charles Leclerc, with Lewis Hamilton third and Kimi Antonelli fourth.
The confusion around the yellow flag left several drivers, including Antonelli, believing it should have been a double-waved yellow given the crash occurred at a high-speed corner. All that said, with two Ferraris ahead of Antonelli and Verstappen directly behind him, it could be a great opportunity for Russell to reduce the gap to his 19-year-old teammate in the drivers' standings.
Elsewhere, McLaren will once again be disappointed with their qualifying performance. It was a similar story to Barcelona, where they looked relatively strong throughout the practice sessions but fell short against the front-runners when it mattered most in qualifying.
Here’s how to watch the Austrian Grand Prix 2026 online from anywhere and potentially for FREE.
Austrian Grand Prix Starting Grid
1) George Russell - Mercedes
2) Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
3) Lewis Hamilton - Ferrari
4) Kimi Antonelli - Mercedes
5) Max Verstappen - Red Bull
6) Lando Norris - McLaren
7) Oscar Piastri - McLaren
8) Isack Hadjar - Red Bull
9) Liam Lawson - Racing Bulls
10) Arvid Lindblad - Racing Bulls
11) Pierre Gasly - Alpine
12) Gabriel Bortoleto - Audi
13) Oliver Bearman - Haas
14) Nico Hulkenberg - Audi
15) Esteban Ocon - Haas
16) Franco Colapinto - Alpine
17) Carlos Sainz - Williams
18) Alexander Albon - Williams
19) Sergio Perez - Cadillac
20) Valtteri Bottas - Cadillac
21) Fernando Alonso - Aston Martin
22) Lance Stroll - Aston Martin
Austrian Grand Prix 2026 Schedule
Practice 1: Friday, June 26 | 12:30pm BST / 7:30am ET - Antonelli fastest
Practice 2: Friday, June 26 | 4pm BST / 11am ET - Antonelli fastest
Practice 3: Saturday, June 27 | 11:30am BST / 6:30am ET - Russell fastest
Qualifying: Saturday, June 27 | 3pm BST / 10am ET - Russell pole
Austrian Grand Prix: Sunday, June 28 | 2pm BST / 9am ET
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix 2026 for FREE
The 2026 Austrian Grand Prix isn't available for free in every country. However, in these select destinations lucky F1 fans can catch the practice sessions, qualifying, and the entire race/highlights for FREE.
- US – Apple TV (free live broadcast)
- Austria – ServusTV (free live broadcast)
- Belgium – RTBF Auvio (free live broadcast)
- Brazil – Globoplay (free live broadcast)
- Croatia – RTL (free live broadcast)
- Luxembourg – RTL Play (free live broadcast)
- Australia – 10Play (free highlights)
- Canada – CTV (free highlights)
- UK – Channel 4 (free highlights)
Traveling abroad during the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix? You can use a VPN to watch all the action free of charge as if you were right at home.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix 2026 from anywhere
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How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix 2026 for free in the US
Apple TV is the new home to watch F1, including the Austrian Grand Prix, in the United States.
F1 TV will be bundled with your Apple TV subscription at no additional cost. Subscriptions start at $12.99 per month or $99 per year.
Even better, as a one-off, the whole of this Austrian Grand Prix weekend is available for FREE to viewers in the US, no Apple TV subscription necessary.
It’s also worth remembering that Apple TV subscribers get a handy 7-day FREE trial.
If you want to catch the F1 Austrian Grand Prix but are traveling outside North America, make sure to use Proton VPN to access your usual services securely.
How to watch the Austrian GP 2026 in the UK
In the UK, Sky Sports F1 will stream the Austrian Grand Prix 2026 from June 26-28.
Sky Sports packages start from £20 per month. Or you can use a more flexible streaming option, Now, (formerly Now TV). Now Sports passes start at £14.99 with monthly options from £27.99.
Extended highlights will also be available for free on Channel 4 from 6.30pm BST.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix 2026 in Australia
Aussie F1 fans can use Fox Sports via Kayo (free trial) for full HD coverage and multi-screen viewing options to stream the 2026 F1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Kayo offers two plans: Standard and Premium. The Standard plan starts at AU$29.99 per month (just AU$9.99 for your first month).
Moreover, Australia's 10Play streaming platform will be showing the full highlights of all the weekend events completely free.
Traveling outside Oz? Australian F1 fans can still watch the F1 2026 season on their usual stream by using Proton VPN.
How to watch the Austrian Grand Prix 2026 in Canada
Canadian F1 fans can watch the F1 2026 season, including the Austrian Grand Prix, on TSN.
If you’ve ditched the cord, you’ll want to check out TSN Plus, which costs $8/month or $80/year. The TSN app will allow you to live stream F1 practices, qualifying and the race from your phone, streaming box or supported device.
Use Proton VPN if you're outside the country for the race.
Austrian Grand Prix Preview
The season is indeed ramping up, thanks largely to Lewis Hamilton, and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff summed up his current form perfectly with "If he smells blood, he goes".
Not only was Hamilton's second stint on the medium tires in Barcelona simply outstanding, but Mercedes arguably undid themselves, first by slipping up on strategy and then when their two drivers got into a tussle, which only ended when Antonelli stopped with a power unit battery failure. The 19-year-old still leads the Drivers' Championship, though, albeit now by 41 points.
Elsewhere, Lando Norris was fortunate to step onto the podium in Barcelona, although it was indeed a solid drive. McLaren, in fact, are only being held back by reliability concerns and excessive tire wear. If they can solve those issues, they could join Ferrari and Mercedes at the front, making the season even more exciting.
Of course, you can never count Max Verstappen out, especially at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, where he's won four times. Like McLaren, Red Bull have made steady progress, evidenced by the fact they have all four of their cars in the top 10 in Austria. Verstappen was unfortunate in Monaco after starting on the front row before recovering to finish fourth in Barcelona. He'll start from fifth on the grid today.
Drivers' Championship Standings (after Round 8)
- Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) — 156
- Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — 115
- George Russell (Mercedes) — 106
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) — 75
- Lando Norris (McLaren) — 73
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) — 68
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) — 55
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) — 41
- Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) — 34
- Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) — 28
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Krishi covers buying guides and how-to's related to software, online tools, and tech products here at TechRadar. Over at Tom's Guide, he writes exclusively on VPN services. You can also find his work on Techopedia and The Tech Report. As a tech fanatic, Krishi also loves writing about the latest happenings in the world of cybersecurity, AI, and software.
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