2026 Formula 1 Season

Australian Grand Prix (2026-03-08)

Track Info

• Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia
• 3.28 miles
• Not very many overtaking opportunities

Tire Info

• C5, C4, C3
• Softest in the range

Qualifying

• Cadillac has joined the grid — 22 cars now
• Cars now have active aerodynamics instead of DRS
• New turbo rules — No more MGUH, and the MGUK is now much bigger, and more battery capacity has been added
• Cars have less grip than they did last year
• Because there are now 22 cars, the bottom six will be dropped in Q1 and Q2 respectively
• Williams' car is overweight, and Williams admits they're almost a full second down in terms of performance as a result

Q1

• Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll are unable to start due to mechanical issues with their cars
• Mercedes are working hard to put Kimi Antonelli's car back together after he had a big crash at the end of FP3
• Audi go out first, with Nico Hulkenberg taking the lead
• New car are more reliant on battery power, so warm-up and cool-down laps are slower to allow the cars to recharge
• Lando Norris is struggling with the grip on his McLaren
• Track evolution is likely to be a factor, as Albert Park is a temporary facility
• Hamilton does his first push lap with medium tires
• George Russell sets the fastest time of the initial laps
• Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) goes into second after setting a good lap
• Hamilton goes third, still on medium tires
• Verstappen crashes on his first qualifying lap — red flag
  • This is good news for Kimi Antonelli, whose mechanics now have more time to work on his car
  • Looks like it might have been a mechanical (electromechanical?) issue with the Red Bull — the rear axle locked up the moment Verstappen put his foot on the brake
• Mercedes managed to fix Kimi Antonelli's car thanks to the red flag delay due to Verstappen's crash
• Even after the red flag, the Ferraris go out with medium tires
• Hamilton, on medium tires, manages to post the fastest time
• Kimi Antonelli's first lap is good enough for 3rd
• Russel and Piastri go P1 and P2 respectively
• LeClerc has a big lockup and ruins his fast lap (and also possibly his tires)
• Norris' time is good enough only for fourth
• Haas aren't in last place
• Looks like the Ferraris did their Q1 on medium tires
• Eliminated in Q1
  • Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
  • Sergio Perez — Cadillac
  • Valteri Bottas — Cadillac
  • Max Verstappen — Red Bull
  • Carlos Sainz — Williams
  • Lance Stroll — Aston Martin

Q2

• Ferraris are on soft tires now
• Russell goes fastest once again
• Norris is considerably slower, .9 sec behind Russell
• Hamilton has bailed out on two fast laps
• LeClerc, in the other Ferrari is 7th, after the first couple of laps
• Hulkenberg does well, pushing himself up into 9th, with a chance at a Q3 spot
• Hamilton's first full lap is only good for 6th
• Pierre Gasly's
• Eliminated in Q2
  • Nico Hulkenberg — Audi
  • Ollie Bearman — Haas
  • Esteban Ocon — Haas
  • Pierre Gasly — Alpine
  • Alex Albon — Williams
  • Franco Colapinto — Alpine

Q3

• Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi broke down in the entrace to pit lane at the end of Q2, delaying the start of Q3
• Mercedes' engine looks really good
• Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes was released onto the racetrack with a piece of the blower in the garage, which then fell off onto the track — will probably result in a penalty for send the car out onto the track in an unsafe condition
• The piece on the racetrack was hit by Lando Norris and exploded into a shower of debris
• Triggers a red flag while the errant pieces are picked up
• Norris's front wing is being fixed with tape
• Kimi Antonelli goes into the gravel on his first lap after the red flag delay
• Russell goes into the lead, while Isaac Hadjar, of Red Bull, does a great job and goes into second place
• Norris has an even better lap and goes into P2 behind Russell
• Kimi Antonelli has a great second lap, takes first for a bit but is dropped down into second after Russell has an even better lap
• Final top 10 qualifying order
  1. George Russell — Mercedes
  2. Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes
  3. Isaac Hadjar — Red Bull
  4. Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
  5. Oscar Piastri — McLaren
  6. Lando Norris — McLaren
  7. Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari
  8. Liam Lawson — Racing Bulls
  9. Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls
  10. Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi

Race

Starting Grid

1. George Russell — Mercedes
2. Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes
3. Isak Hadjar — Red Bull
4. Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
5. Oscar Piastri — McLaren (not starting due to pre-race crash)
6. Lando Norris — McLaren
7. Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari
8. Liam Lawson — Racing Bulls
9. Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls
10. Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi
11. Nico Hulkenberg — Audi
12. Oliver Bearman — Haas
13. Esteban Ocon — Haas
14. Pierre Gasly — Alpine
15. Alex Albon — Williams
16. Franco Colapinto — Alpine
17. Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
18. Sergio Perez — Cadillac
19. Valteri Bottas — Cadillac
20. Max Verstappen — Red Bull
21. Carlos Sainz — Williams
22. Lance Stroll — Aston Martin

• 58 laps
• Oscar Piastri not starting will be disappointing for the crowd in Australia
• Drivers are unfamiliar with the new cars, and the new specification could result in reliability issues
• Most drivers are starting on medium tires, with some going for hard tires to have a longer first stint
• Both one-stop and two-stop strategies are viable
• Unlike last year, weather conditions are good
• This year DRS is no longer present; instead cars can alter their aerodynamics into a low-drag mode at specific zones along the racetrack
• The new specification places a greater emphasis on battery power, so drivers will have to manage charging and deploying energy from their batteries strategically throughout the race
• Lap 1
  • I really don't like the new start procedure forced by the larger batteries
  • Instead of revving the engines conventionally, the drivers put the car in neutral and floor the accelerator, redlining the engines in order to charge the battery
  • This sounds horrible
  • Russell is slow off the line and LeClerc jumps into the lead
  • Hadjar jumps up into 3rd
  • Lindblad makes it into 4th
  • Antonelli has a poor launch, and falls back into 7th
  • Later in the lap, Lindblad and Hamilton pass Hadjar, with Hamilton going into 3rd and Lindblad going into 4th
  • Verstappen also improves 4 places, to 16th
• Lap 2 — George Russell passes Charles LeClerc for the lead
• Lap 3
  • LeClerc has an easy pass on Russell to retake the lead
  • Possible difference in battery deployment strategy?
• Lap 4 — Verstappen is up into 13th place, after passing Alex Albon
• Lap 6
  • Kimi Antonelli has retaken 4th
  • Russell is increasingly pressuring LeClerc for the lead
• Lap 8 — Russell passes LeClerc for the lead, but LeClerc retakes the lead later in the lap with the advantage of greater battery power
• Lap 9
  • Russell attempts to pass LeClerc for the lead and has a big lockup
  • LeClerc retains the lead and now Hamilton is just behind Russell
• Lap 10 — Verstappen has moved up into 10th
• Lap 11
  • Isak Hadjar's Red Bull is blowing smoke and he is running slowly
  • Hadjar pulls over off the racetrack and stops
  • Sucks for him — he had a really good start
  • Potential reliability issue for Red Bull?
  • Virtual safety car declared
• Lap 12
  • Norris, Ocon, Gasly and Lawson all pit under the VS
  • All switch from medium tires to hard tires
• Lap 13
  • Russell and Antonelli pit and go from medium to hard tires
  • Come out in 3rd and 5th respectively
  • Ferrari have stayed out with both their drivers
  • Hamilton is frustrated that one of them wasn't pit
• Lap 14
  • VSC ends
  • Verstappen, starting on hard tires, took advantage of others' pit stops during the VSC to move up into 6th
  • The question is whether he can build enough of a lead to hold that position against other people on fresher tires behind him
  • Fernando Alonso pulls into the pits and stops with a mechanical issue — won't result in yellow flag
• Lap 15 — Norris passes Ocon for 9th
• Lap 16 — Antonelli passes Lindblad for 4th
• Lap 18
  • Valteri Bottas pulls over and stops; yellow flag shown
  • A second virtual safety car is declared
  • Lindblad, Verstappen and Bearman pit under the VSC
  • Verstappen comes out ahead of Bearman, but behind Lindblad
  • Lindblad, Verstappen and Bearman come out in 6th, 7th and 8th, respectively
  • Verstappen only lost one place in the pit stop and doesn't have much of a gap to Lindblad so he should be able to retake 6th quite easily
  • However, Norris is now ahead of this group, having pit during the previous VSC
  • The pit entry is closed under the VSC in order to allow race staff to recover Bottas' stricken Cadillac
• Lap 20
  • VSC ends after Bottas' car is cleared
  • Lindblad holds off Verstappen after the VSC start
• Lap 21 — Verstappen passes Lindblad for 6th
• Lap 25
  • LeClerc pits from the lead and comes out in 4th
  • This is confusing from Ferrari, because they had the opportunity to make pit stops under VSC earlier, but they chose to stay out
• Lap 28
  • Russell passes Hamilton for the lead
  • Hamilton pits from 2nd and comes out in 4th, behind LeClerc
• Lap 29 — Russell reports that he's comfortable with a 1-stop strategy
• Lap 33 — Norris reports higher than expected tire wear on the medium tires for his McLaren
• Lap 34
  • VSC deployed because of debris on the track; some bits fell off Sergio Perez's car
  • Marshals do a good job of recovering the debris correctly and the VSC ends on the same lap
• Lap 35
  • Norris pulls into the pits and allows Verstappen to pass him for 5th, comes back out in 8th
• Lap 40 — Bearman passes Lindblad for 7th
• Lap 42 — Verstappen pits again from 5th and comes out in 6th behind Norris
• Lap 45 — Verstappen is catching up to Norris for 5th
• Lap 48 — Russell and Antonelli have pulled well clear of the rest of the pack
• Lap 50 — Norris is defending hard against Verstappen
• Lap 58
  • Russell wins
  • Mercedes get the 1-2
  • LeClerc is 3rd and Hamilton is 4th
  • I think Ferrari were somewhat betrayed by their strategy — maybe they couldn't have won if they'd pit during the VSC, but I think they could have made it closer
  • Arvid Lindblad gets points on his debut race
  • Norris stays ahead of Verstappen for 5th
  • Lots of DNFs, but that's to be expected for the debut race of a new car specification

Results

1. George Russell — Mercedes
2. Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes
3. Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
4. Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari
5. Lando Norris — McLaren
6. Max Verstappen — Red Bull
7. Oliver Bearman — Haas
8. Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls
9. Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi
10. Pierre Gasly — Alpine
11. Esteban Ocon — Haas
12. Alex Albon — Williams
13. Liam Lawson — Racing Bulls
14. Franco Colapinto — Alpine
15. Carlos Sainz — Williams
16. Sergio Perez — Cadillac
17. Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
18. Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin (DNF)
19. Valteri Bottas — Cadillac (DNF)
20. Isak Hadjar — Red Bull (DNF)
21. Oscar Piastri — McLaren (DNS)
22. Nico Hulkenberg — Audi (DNS)

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