2026 Australian Grand Prix

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2026 Australian Grand Prix
Race 1 of 22[a] in the 2026 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
Layout of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
Race details
Date 8 March 2026
Official name Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026
Location Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Course Temporary street circuit
Course length 5.278 km (3.280 miles)
Distance 58 laps, 306.124 km (190.217 miles)
Weather Partly cloudy
Attendance 483,934[2]
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:18.518
Fastest lap
Driver Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford
Time 1:22.091 on lap 43
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Mercedes
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2026 Australian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026) was a Formula One motor race that was held on 8 March 2026 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was the first round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship, which brought about major regulation changes revolving around the chassis and power unit.

After surviving an early-stage battle against Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, polesitter George Russell led teammate Kimi Antonelli to Mercedes's 61st 1–2 finish. Leclerc rounded out the podium for Ferrari ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton; both drivers led for at least one lap during the Grand Prix. Russell's win made this the first time he led the Drivers' Championship; his team Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship.

Background

The event was held at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne for the 29th time in the circuit's history, across the weekend of 6–8 March.[3] As the first round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship, the Grand Prix was the first to be held with the new regulation set – which entailed major changes to the chassis and power unit – for 2026, and marked the 40th running of the Australian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship.[4][5]

Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[6] Arvid Lindblad made his debut as a full-time driver with Racing Bulls,[7] while Cadillac and Audi made their Formula One debuts. Cadillac's entry as the eleventh team made this the first Formula One race with 11 teams since the season ending 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[8]

After last supplying Jaguar, Jordan and Minardi in 2004, Ford returned to the grid after a 21-year absence, supplying Red Bull and Racing Bulls through Red Bull Powertrains. Honda made their full return to the sport after having pulled out following the 2021 season, supplying engines to Aston Martin. After acquiring the Sauber team, Audi made their Formula One debut, supplying their own power unit.[9][10]

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (the three softest in their range) designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively, for teams to use at the event.[11]

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 6 March 2026, at 12:30 local time (UTC+11), and was topped by Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen (Red Bull).[12][13] The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 16:00 local time, and was topped by Oscar Piastri (McLaren) ahead of Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.[14][15] The third free practice session was held on 7 March 2026, it was originally scheduled to start at 12:30 local time before being delayed by 20 minutes due to a crash in the F3 round. It was topped by Russell ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc.[16][17] Red flags were brought out due the stoppages of Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) and Antonelli on track, the former due to a power loss and the latter due to a heavy crash.[18]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 7 March 2026, at 16:00 local time (UTC+11), and determined the starting grid order for the race.[18]

Qualifying report

A red flag was flown after during the opening segment after Max Verstappen (Red Bull) locked his rear axle braking into the opening corner, sending him into a high speed spin into the gravel. He did not set a time, leaving him in twentieth ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), neither of whom went out due to power unit issues. The crash benefitted Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), whose car was repaired during the red flag period, following his crash during the final practice session. While the second session ran without issues, another red flag was observed early into the third session after Antonelli was released with two cooling devices attached to his car. While the first device was rolled into the turn one gravel trap, the second fell off on a straight and was run over by Lando Norris (McLaren), damaging his front wing endplate and creating debris which needed to be removed.[18][19]

Mercedes recorded their first front-row lockout since the 2024 British Grand Prix. George Russell's pole lap of 1:18.518 was eight-tenths faster than third-placed Isack Hadjar's (Red Bull) 1:19.303. The BBC said Mercedes's qualifying advantage sent "shockwaves through the paddock".[20] After the race, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) commented that the gap in race pace would not be quite as large.[21]

Qualifying classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 1:19.507 1:18.934 1:18.518 1
2 12 Italy Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:20.120 1:19.435 1:18.811 2
3 6 France Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford 1:20.023 1:19.653 1:19.303 3
4 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:20.226 1:19.357 1:19.327 4
5 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.664 1:19.525 1:19.380 5
6 1 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.010 1:19.882 1:19.475 6
7 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:19.811 1:19.921 1:19.478 7
8 30 New Zealand Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford 1:20.491 1:20.144 1:19.994 8
9 41 United Kingdom Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford 1:20.409 1:19.971 1:21.247 9
10 5 Brazil Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:20.495 1:20.221 No time 10
11 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Audi 1:21.024 1:20.303 N/A 11
12 87 United Kingdom Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:21.247 1:20.311 N/A 12
13 31 France Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:20.759 1:20.491 N/A 13
14 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:21.138 1:20.501 N/A 14
15 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Atlassian Williams-Mercedes 1:21.051 1:20.941 N/A 15
16 43 Argentina Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:21.200 1:21.270 N/A 16
17 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Honda 1:21.969 N/A N/A 17
18 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:22.605 N/A N/A 18
19 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:23.244 N/A N/A 19
107% time: 1:25.072
— 3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford No time N/A N/A 20a
— 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Atlassian Williams-Mercedes No time N/A N/A 21a
— 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Honda No time N/A N/A 22a
Source:[22][23]

Notes

Race

The race was held on 8 March 2026, at 15:00 local time (UTC+11), and was run for 58 laps.[18]

Race report

20 of the 22 entrants started the race. Nico Hülkenberg's Audi suffered technical issues before the start.[24] Oscar Piastri crashed his McLaren on a reconnaissance lap after experiencing an unexpected power surge.[25][26]

At the start, the Ferrari cars shot forward.[20][27] Polesitter George Russell found himself sandwiched between Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton; Russell's teammate Kimi Antonelli briefly dropped to seventh.[20] Over the next several laps, Russell and Leclerc repeatedly exchanged the lead. Russell used his electric boosts to overpower Leclerc at various turns, but this drained his battery, allowing Leclerc to respond tit-for-tat with his own boosts and retake the lead each time.[28] On lap 11, Isack Hadjar, on his debut for the Red Bull team, retired with an engine issue, triggering a virtual safety car (VSC). Both Mercedes drivers pitted, while both Ferrari drivers stayed out.[29] Ferrari planned a one-stop strategy and was hoping to pit later in the race to gain the tyre advantage over the faster Mercedes;[20] this decision left Mercedes racing in clear air and Russell rapidly cut into the Ferraris' lead on track.[30]

From there, Mercedes controlled the race. The next VSC came on lap 16, when the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas retired with mechanical issues. By this time, Russell was too close for Ferrari to pit and retain the lead,[28] and the pit lane was closed to recover Bottas's car before either Ferrari could make a pit stop.[31] Ferrari made their pitstop midway through the race without the benefit of a safety car, allowing Russell and Antonelli to take first and second place.[29] Russell and Antonelli saw off the challenge and completed the race on 46-lap-old hard tyres.[28] Despite Ferrari's tyre delta advantage, Russell posted essentially identical lap times to Leclerc after the latter pitted,[28] prompting Leclerc to comment that Mercedes was hiding its true pace.[21]

In the closing laps, Antonelli cut Russell's lead from six seconds to three, and Hamilton closed in on Leclerc, but neither was able to overtake their teammate, and the top three was formed by Russell, Antonelli and Leclerc.[29] This marked Mercedes's first 1–2 finish since the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, which Russell also won.[32] With his victory, Russell picked up his sixth victory in Formula One, and led the Drivers' Championship for the first time in his career.[33]

Finishing fifth and sixth were the last two World Champions, McLaren's Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, the latter recovering from twentieth place at the start.[20] The two drivers had a lengthy duel in the final half of the race, though Verstappen suffered tyre wear and dropped off at the end.[31] The Haas of Oliver Bearman took seventh and Arvid Lindblad, making his debut in Formula One, finished eighth in his Racing Bulls. Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi scored that team's first Formula One points in ninth.[34] Rounding out the top ten, Pierre Gasly of Alpine picked up the final point of the day after holding off Haas's Esteban Ocon.[31]

Sergio Pérez recorded Cadillac's first-ever finish in his return to Formula One.[20] Also noted was the 43-lap stint of Lance Stroll;[35] due to the ongoing development difficulties at Aston Martin-Honda, neither car had been expected to complete more than 25 laps.[36] His teammate Fernando Alonso had an explosive start, passing seven drivers, but retired the car.[31]

Race classification

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 63 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 58 1:23:06.801 1 25
2 12 Italy Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 58 +2.974 2 18
3 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 58 +15.519 4 15
4 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 58 +16.144 7 12
5 1 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 58 +51.741 6 10
6 3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford 58 +54.617 20 8
7 87 United Kingdom Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 57 +1 lap 12 6
8 41 United Kingdom Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford 57 +1 lap 9 4
9 5 Brazil Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 57 +1 lap 10 2
10 10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 57 +1 lap 14 1
11 31 France Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 57 +1 lap 13
12 23 Thailand Alexander Albon Atlassian Williams-Mercedes 57 +1 lap 15
13 30 New Zealand Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Red Bull Ford 57 +1 lap 8
14 43 Argentina Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 56 +2 laps 16
15 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Atlassian Williams-Mercedes 56 +2 laps 21
16 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Cadillac-Ferrari 55 +3 laps 18
NC 18 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco-Honda 43 +15 lapsa 22
Ret 14 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Aramco-Honda 21 Vibrations 17
Ret 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 15 Fuel system 19
Ret 6 France Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford 10 Engine 3
DNS 81 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 0 Accident —b
DNS 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Audi 0 Hydraulics —b
Source:[23][37][38]

Notes

Championship standings after the race

Russell's victory allowed him to take the lead of the Drivers' Championship, making him the first Mercedes driver to do so since Lewis Hamilton led the standings following the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship standings for the first time since the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where they won the Constructors' Championship. Ferrari trailed behind them with 27 points, with McLaren holding ten.[39]

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos. Driver Points
1 United Kingdom George Russell 25
2 Italy Kimi Antonelli 18
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc 15
4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 12
5 United Kingdom Lando Norris 10
Source:[39]
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos. Constructor Points
1 Germany Mercedes 43
2 Italy Ferrari 27
3 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 10
4 Austria Red Bull Racing-Red Bull Ford 8
5 United States Haas-Ferrari 6
Source:[39]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

Notes

  1. At the time of the event Formula One planned to hold twenty-four Grands Prix.[1]

References

  1. "Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April". Formula One. 14 March 2026. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  2. "Australian Grand Prix announces record crowd". Speedcafe.com. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  3. "Melbourne". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  4. "Grands Prix Australia". StatsF1.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  5. "Russell wins action-packed Australian GP from Antonelli". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  6. Shetty, Nish; Remmerie, Matheiu; Lamy, Pedro; Selley, Matthew (6 March 2026). "2026 Australian Grand Prix – Entry List V2" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  7. Benson, Andrew (25 February 2026). "Arvid Lindblad: Britain's youngest ever F1 driver on his Indian and Swedish heritage and reaching F1 aged 18". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  8. Benson, Andrew (27 February 2026). "Cadillac and Audi enter F1: Two teams with the same ambition but very different projects". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  9. Dubey, Vivek (6 March 2026). "Audi makes Formula 1 debut at Australian Grand Prix with Hulkenberg, Bortoleto as drivers". CNBC TV18. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  10. "F1's 2026 season begins a new era: Which engine will each team use this year?". Diario AS. 5 March 2026. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
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  12. "Melbourne FP1 Results". Formula1.com. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  13. "Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 in first practice of 2026". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  14. "Australian Grand Prix 2026 – FP2 Results". Formula 1. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
  15. "Piastri beats Antonelli to top spot in Australia FP2". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  16. "Australian Grand Prix 2026 – FP3 Results". Formula 1. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  17. "Russell goes fastest in final Australia practice". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  18. "Australian Grand Prix 2026 – F1 Race". Formula 1. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  19. "Russell storms to pole for the Australian GP". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  20. Benson, Andrew (8 March 2026). "Australian Grand Prix result: George Russell wins from Kimi Antonelli as new era F1 era begins". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  21. "Leclerc pleased Ferrari 'delivered' in Australia start". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  22. "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. 7 March 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  23. "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 – Starting grid". Formula1.com. 7 March 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
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  25. "Oscar Piastri crashes out of Australian Grand Prix on reconnaissance lap". Planet F1. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  26. Cleeren, Filip (8 March 2026). "Piastri explains cause of Australian GP pre-race crash". Autosport. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  27. "Fred Vasseur surprised by F1 2026 starting procedure complaints: "It was known for a long time"". Motorsport.com. 9 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  28. Boxall-Legge, Jake (8 March 2026). "Mercedes drew first blood in F1 2026 - but did Ferrari miss a prime opportunity?". Autosport. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  29. "Russell wins action-packed Australian GP from Antonelli as Mercedes secure 1-2 finish". Formula 1. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  30. "Hamilton left infuriated by Ferrari as Russell capitalises for Australian GP victory". The Independent. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  31. "What the teams said – Race day in Australia". Formula1.com. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  32. "George Russell wins Australian Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Antonelli". The Guardian. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  33. "George Russell reveals Mercedes 'suspicion' after crushing Australia victory". Racing News. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  34. "Winners and losers from F1 2026's Australian GP". The Race. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  35. "Mercedes 1-2 in F1 2026 opener after early Ferrari tussle". The Race. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  36. "Just 25 laps in Melbourne? The key questions behind Aston Martin and Honda's F1 crisis". Motorsport.com. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  37. "Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 – Race result". Formula1.com. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
  38. "Australia 2026 – Result". Stats F1. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 9 March 2026.
  39. "Australia 2026 – Championship". Stats F1. 8 March 2026. Retrieved 8 March 2026.