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George Russell took victory at the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend, closing his championship deficit to 40 points, but Formula 1 analyst Mark Hughes believes the result obscures the real story. In his post-race analysis, the British journalist argues that championship leader Kimi Antonelli, not Russell, was the quickest driver across the weekend at the Red Bull Ring.
Russell secured his second win of the season narrowly ahead of Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Mercedes driver described the result as a confidence boost, yet Hughes suggests there is little reason for such optimism. According to the analyst, Russell's victory owed more to his rival's errors than to outright pace.
Antonelli threw away the win himself
Hughes contends that Antonelli possessed the superior speed but surrendered the race through a series of costly mistakes. In qualifying, the Mercedes driver lost time under pressure before misjudging his response to yellow flags in Q3. "In Q3, my muscles cramped up a bit. I was no longer driving as freely as earlier in the weekend," Antonelli reflected afterwards.
The young Italian compounded his difficulties during the race itself. Two braking errors in the opening lap cost him not only ground to Russell but also track position to Max Verstappen. The mistakes forced Antonelli into a recovery drive past the Ferraris before repassing the Dutchman, by which time Russell had already built a decisive lead. Hughes is emphatic: without those errors, Antonelli would likely have dominated the fight for victory.
Russell won but struggled with his Mercedes
Remarkably, race winner Russell endured what Hughes describes as a difficult weekend. The Briton only found the correct setup late in the process and was forced to adapt his driving style to manage tyre degradation. "I drove in a very different, actually unnatural way to save the tyres. It worked, but I still don't fully understand why. I don't have the tyres under control like in previous seasons," Russell admitted.
The performance gap between the two Mercedes drivers raises questions about where Russell's championship challenge truly stands. While the win narrows the points deficit, the underlying pace deficit to his teammate suggests the road ahead remains steep. Antonelli has now won four of the opening six races and holds a commanding advantage despite his Austrian missteps.
Ferrari exposed by power unit weaknesses
Hughes also observed how Ferrari was once again undermined at the Red Bull Ring by poor energy management from its power unit. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc lost significant speed on the long straights compared to Mercedes and Red Bull, leaving any renewed title challenge looking distant for now. The analyst expects Ferrari will only become competitive again on circuits where energy deployment is critical after a planned power unit upgrade later this season.
Russell's win keeps him mathematically in contention, but the verdict from Hughes is clear: on pure pace, this was Antonelli's weekend to lose. Whether Russell can close the gap without relying on his teammate's mistakes will define the rest of his championship campaign.
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