Kimi Antonelli fought his way to third place at the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, while George Russell recovered from an early setback to finish seventh. The result sends Mercedes into the summer break leading both the constructors’ and drivers’ championships. The team returns to action next month at Zandvoort.
Mercedes came away from a difficult Sunday in Budapest with a podium and a points haul, describing the afternoon as an exercise in damage limitation. Kimi Antonelli climbed from seventh on the grid to third, while George Russell battled back from the rear of the field to seventh.
A day of recovery drives
Both drivers started on the medium tyres, with Russell lining up sixth and Antonelli seventh. Russell’s race unravelled at the start when his anti-stall system triggered and dropped him to the back of the pack. According to the team, the cause is still being investigated.
Antonelli, meanwhile, moved up to sixth and held station in the opening laps before committing to a two-stop strategy, switching to the hard tyres at both stops. That built a tyre advantage over the cars around him and allowed him to work his way up to third. Despite an awkwardly timed virtual safety car, he kept Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari behind him to secure the final podium spot.
Russell also ran a two-stop strategy on his way back through the field. He came up just short of passing Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull in the closing laps and had to settle for seventh.
Leading both championships
The result leaves Mercedes at the top of both the constructors’ and drivers’ standings as the season reaches its midpoint. Team boss Toto Wolff said the podium made for solid damage limitation after a tougher Saturday.
“Both drivers put in strong races today. Kimi delivered a good performance and drove to the podium, while George fought back brilliantly after the first lap. His problem at the start was entirely down to us as a team, and that is not good enough.”
Wolff added that the team was fortunate not to lose more ground to a second unlucky virtual safety car, and that reliability would be a key focus after the break. Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin said the two-stop strategy’s flexibility had been central to Antonelli’s charge, noting that careful management of the opening stints gave him the tyre life to fight for the podium late on.
What it means
Heading into the break as the front-runner in both titles is a position the team says it would have been happy with at the start of the year. Mercedes has flagged reliability, and Russell’s repeated starting issues in particular, as the area it must resolve if it is to convert those leads into championships.
The season resumes next month at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Source: media.mercedes-benz.com