2026 Formula 1 Season
Contents
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
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes
- Isaac Hadjar — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari
- Liam Lawson — Racing Bulls
- Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls
- Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi
Race
Starting Grid
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes
- Isak Hadjar — Red Bull
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren (not starting due to pre-race crash)
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari
- Liam Lawson — Racing Bulls
- Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls
- Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi
- Nico Hulkenberg — Audi
- Oliver Bearman — Haas
- Esteban Ocon — Haas
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Franco Colapinto — Alpine
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin
- Sergio Perez — Cadillac
- Valteri Bottas — Cadillac
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz — Williams
- 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
- George Russell — Mercedes
- Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes
- Charles LeClerc — Ferrari
- Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari
- Lando Norris — McLaren
- Max Verstappen — Red Bull
- Oliver Bearman — Haas
- Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls
- Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi
- Pierre Gasly — Alpine
- Esteban Ocon — Haas
- Alex Albon — Williams
- Liam Lawson — Racing Bulls
- Franco Colapinto — Alpine
- Carlos Sainz — Williams
- Sergio Perez — Cadillac
- Lance Stroll — Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin (DNF)
- Valteri Bottas — Cadillac (DNF)
- Isak Hadjar — Red Bull (DNF)
- Oscar Piastri — McLaren (DNS)
- Nico Hulkenberg — Audi (DNS)