Everything You Need to Know Before the Austrian GP Weekend Begins at Red Bull Ring
Formula 1 arrives at one of the calendar’s most beloved venues this weekend as the Austrian Grand Prix takes centre stage from 25 to 28 June 2026.
The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg plays host to what promises to be a pivotal round of the championship, with Kimi Antonelli carrying a 41-point lead into a circuit that has historically delivered drama, overtaking and no shortage of incident in recent seasons.
The 2026 season has already been defined by its all-new car and power-unit regulations, which have reshuffled the competitive order in ways few predicted.
Mercedes leads the way through Antonelli, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton sits in second place in the drivers’ standings.
Every session this weekend carries genuine significance — and if you want to follow every moment, here is your complete session-by-session breakdown.
When Is the Austrian Grand Prix? Full Weekend Schedule
The Austrian GP weekend spans four days, opening with opening practice on Thursday 25 June and culminating in the race on Sunday 28 June.
The Red Bull Ring sits in the Styrian hills in southern Austria, which means UK and European fans enjoy relatively friendly local broadcast times, with afternoon and early evening slots for most sessions.
Below is the full session schedule for the 2026 Austrian Grand Prix weekend. All times are listed in Central European Summer Time (CEST), with British Summer Time (BST) one hour behind.
| Session | Day | Date | Local Time (CEST) | UK Time (BST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Thursday | 25 June | 13:30 | 12:30 |
| Practice 2 | Thursday | 25 June | 17:00 | 16:00 |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 27 June | 12:30 | 11:30 |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 27 June | 16:00 | 15:00 |
| Race | Sunday | 28 June | 15:00 | 14:00 |
Friday 26 June is a rest day under the standard Thursday-practice format that Austria uses. Teams will use that time for debrief work, simulator correlation and strategy preparation before the competitive weekend resumes on Saturday morning.
How to Watch the Austrian GP: Broadcast Guide
In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports F1 holds exclusive live rights to every Formula 1 session in 2026, including all practice, qualifying and the race itself.
Channel 4 continues to show free-to-air highlights of the race for those without a Sky subscription. In Austria itself, ServusTV and ORF share domestic broadcasting duties, giving home fans the option of free-to-air coverage throughout the weekend.
For fans outside the UK and Austria, F1 TV Pro remains the global streaming platform for live and on-demand coverage, available in most territories where a dedicated pay-TV broadcaster does not hold exclusivity.
The platform offers multi-language commentary options, live timing, driver tracker and onboard camera feeds, making it the most comprehensive way to follow every moment from Spielberg.
It is worth noting that F1 TV is not available in markets where regional broadcasters hold exclusive rights — always check local listings first.
Social media clips and updates will be available through Formula 1’s official channels across YouTube, X and Instagram, though live streaming is not permitted on those platforms due to broadcast agreements.
Several team radio and behind-the-scenes clips tend to surface via official team accounts throughout the weekend, offering an additional layer of colour for fans who want more than the standard broadcast.
Practice Sessions: What to Watch For
Practice One and Practice Two on Thursday afternoon will serve as the first meaningful opportunity for teams to understand how their 2026 cars behave around the Red Bull Ring’s uniquely compact and high-altitude layout.
The short lap — just 4.318 kilometres — places a premium on aerodynamic efficiency and traction out of slow corners, areas where the new technical regulations have created significant differentiation between the leading teams.
For Mercedes, these sessions will be an opportunity to refine Antonelli’s setup ahead of what could be a championship-defining weekend.
The young Italian has been consistently fast across a variety of circuit types in 2026, but the Red Bull Ring will provide a fresh test of the car’s low-downforce competitiveness.
You can read more about Antonelli’s title permutations heading into Austria in our dedicated analysis piece.
Ferrari will be using Practice One and Two to try to close the gap that has opened between Hamilton in second place and Antonelli at the top.
With Hamilton 41 points adrift, Austria is not yet a must-win — but further drift would put genuine pressure on the Maranello outfit’s 2026 ambitions.
Hamilton’s preparation and Leclerc’s supporting role for the team will be worth monitoring closely from the very first lap of FP1. Our colleagues have a full Ferrari Austria outlook piece that explores those dynamics in detail.
Qualifying: The Key Hour That Sets Up Sunday
Qualifying at the Red Bull Ring has an outsized impact on race outcomes.
The circuit’s short lap, combined with limited overtaking opportunities at certain points of the track, means that grid position carries more weight here than at some of the calendar’s more overtaking-friendly venues.
Saturday’s qualifying session from 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) is therefore one of the weekend’s most critical moments.
All eyes will be on whether Antonelli can assert his championship form in the one-lap sprint of Q3, where Hamilton and Ferrari are likely to provide the sternest resistance.
George Russell in the second Mercedes sits third in the standings and will be aiming to make it a full-works Mercedes front-row lockout if the pace allows.
McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who occupy fifth and sixth in the championship respectively, will also be factors — their car has shown genuine qualifying speed in 2026 and the Red Bull Ring’s smooth surface is expected to suit their setup philosophy.
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