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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Joey Lynch

George Russell wins Australian Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Antonelli – as it happened

George Russell Kimi Antonelli Lance Stroll Mercedes Australia Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix Lando Norris Aston Martin McLaren
George Russell leads the field at Albert Park during the F1 Australian Grand Prix. Follow live updates from Melbourne.
George Russell leads the field at Albert Park during the F1 Australian Grand Prix. Follow live updates from Melbourne. Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Here is Giles Richards’ race report from Albert Park. Thanks for following along and see you next time.

Updated

But that’s about all from me this afternoon. Stay tuned for reports from Giles Richards and Jack Snape from on the ground at Albert Park.

For all you petrolheads, I’ll see you next week for the Chinese grand prix. For all the Aussie sporting fans, I’ll see you in a few hours for the Matildas’ Women’s Asian Cup clash with South Korea. Thanks and success.

How it finished in Melbourne

As preseason form suggested, a one-two from Mercedes opens the season, with a Ferrari duo following in third and fourth.

1. Russell Mercedes

2. Antonelli Mercedes

3. Leclerc Ferrari

4. Hamilton Ferrari

5. Norris McLaren

6. Verstappen Red Bull

7. Bearman Haas

8. Linblad Racing Bulls

9. Bortoleto Audi

10. Gasly Alpine

11. Ocon Haas

12. Albon Williams

13. Lawson Racing Bulls

14. Colapinto Alpine

15. Sainz Williams

16. Perez Cadillac

17. Stroll Aston Martin

RET Alonso Aston Martin

RET Bottas Cadillac

RET Hadjar Red Bull

RET Piastri McLaren

RET Hulkenberg Audi

Updated

Antonelli is now chatting with Jensen Button on the broadcast.

“Was not the best start we could have wished for, I lost a lot of places and I had to recover. But overall, it was a good race, the pace was really strong especially at the end.

It was really good fun at the beginning!”

Our race winner Russell is speaking on the broadcast.

“It was a hell of a fight at the beginning! I made a bad start, and some really tight battles with Charles at the start; just really glad to cross the finish line.”

Updated

While Audi finish in the points through Bortoleto, a nice little moment for new boys Cadillac, too, as while Bottas recorded a DNF, Perez has crossed the line in the American team’s first race – just over a year on from being given the greenlight to field a team in 2026.

A neat little stat on the broadcast. With his win today, Russell has taken the lead in the World Championship for the first time in his career.

George Russell wins the Australian grand prix

Lap 58/58: It’s a Mercedes one-two to open the 2026 Formula One World Championship, as Russell takes the chequered flag in Melbourne, followed by his teammate Antonelli.

‘Wooo! Very nice! Very nice! I like this car, I like this engine!”

Leclerc edges out Hamilton for third – the gap ended up at 0.6 seconds – with Norris holding off a determined charge from Verstappen to take out fifth. Berman finishes seventh while Racing Bulls Lindblad will finish eighth in his debut race.

Audi, meanwhile, will pick up points in their first race as a team as Bortoleto crosses the line in ninth, with Gasly picking up a point for Alpine as he finishes tenth.

Updated

57/58: The penultimate lap is done and Russell continues to lead from Mercedes teammate Antonelli.

Leclerc’s gap over Hamilton is shrinking but he should have enough for third. Norris is fifth, Verstappen, sixth, with Berman, Lindblad, Bortoleto, and Gasly also in the points.

Updated

Lap 56/58: Hamilton has the gap to Leclerc down to 1.6 seconds but he might just run out of time in his efforts to get on the podium. Bortoleto is less than second back of Lindblad as he looks to jump up to eighth.

Lap 55/58: Russell leads Antonelli by 4.6 seconds, with Leclerc’s lead over Hamilton in third down to two. Norris has very slightly widened the gap between himself and Verstappen, too, as the heavyweights jostle for position.

Lap 54/58: Hamilton has closed the gap between himself and Leclerc to less than three seconds now – regardless of what happens through the remainder of this one, it’s an auspicious start to the season for the Brit after his morose debut season with Ferrari.

Russell continues to lead from Antonelli, followed by Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris, Verstappen, Bearman, Lindblad, Bortoleto, and Gasly in the top ten.

Stroll, meanwhile, has resumed driving after looking as though he’d retired at one point.

Lap 53/58: Antonelli has closed the gap on Russell to five seconds but he almost certainly doesn’t have the laps remaining to overhaul him. Hamilton, meanwhile, on fresher tyres, is just three back from Leclerc.

Lap 51/58: It’s increasingly looking likely that Hamilton’s query as to why one of the two Ferraris didn’t pit during the virtual safety car looks increasingly prescient. The Mercedes remain well, well out in front.

Lap 50/58: Russell’s lead over Antonelli is just under six seconds, while Leclerc is nine and a half back of the sophomore Mercedes driver. Hamilton, for his part, trails his teammate in third by three seconds, with a gap over thirty seconds then existing to Norris in fifth.

Lap 49/58: With less than ten laps remaining, Russell, who is going to go all the way through to the finish on his tyres, leads from Antonelli. The Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton are doing their best to close the gap, with Hamilton in fourth place also trying to move in on Leclerc in third.

Norris continues to defend fifth from Verstappen, while Bearman has opened up a bit of a gap on Lindblad. Bortoleto’s Audi is in the points in ninth, while Gasly’s Alpine rounds out the top ten.

Updated

Lap 48/58: The battle between Norris and Verstappen continues, with the Dutchman less than a second back of his rival in the McLaren. Further ahead, Hamilton continues to close the gap on Leclerc while Antonelli is creeping a bit closer to Russell.

Lap 47/58: Hamilton has started to close the gap on Leclerc in third – the Brit’s Ferrari now less than four seconds behind his teammate’s.

Lap 46/58: Verstappen is pushing Norris with everything he has, which the defending champion’s garage get on the radio to let him know.

Word, meanwhile, is that Russell is going to try and push to the end on the hard tyres he had put on during the race’s first virtual safety car. A high-risk, high-reward strategy.

Lap 45/58: Verstappen is putting his new tyres to work, setting a new fastest lap as he closes back in on Norris and looks to resume that battle. Ahead of them, Russell leads the race still from Antonelli, Leclerc, and Hamilton, while behind them, Bearman, Lindblad, Bortoleto, and Gasly round out the top ten.

Lap 43/58: Verstappen pulls into the pits, now confirmed to be on a two-stop strategy. He emerges in sixth position on hard tyres.

Updated

Lap 41/58: Russell continues to lead the Australian grand prix, with his teammate Antonelli trailing in second. The Ferrari of Leclerc rounds out the podium, with the Monégasque driver’s teammate Hamilton in fourth. Verstappen has come from the second-last row of the grid to occupy fith place, with defending champion Norris behind him. Bearman trails them in seventh, followed Lindblad, Bortoleto, Gasly in the top ten.

Lap 40/58: Two more retirements, with the Aston Martins of Stroll and Alonso waving the white flag. Bearman and Lindblad are tussling fiercely for the seventh spot, with the former taking the position and then defending an aggressive re-take attempt by the latter.

Lap 39/58: Leclerc has set a new fastest lap as he looks to close the gap on the two Mercedes that lead the race. Bortoleto has moved past Ocon and taken a place in the top ten, with Gasly not too far ahead.

Lap 38/58: Bottas, Hadjard, Piastri, and Hulkenberg remain our only four scratchings, thus far. Norris, meanwhile, has gone past Bearman and has now set his sights on Lindblad.

Lap 37/58: Russell is going hell for leather at the front of the pack. Perhaps the signal has come through to flog the tyres as they’re going to need to execute a two-stopper?

After pitting for the second time, Norris is all over the back of Bearman, trying to move into seventh.

Lap 36/58: Norris emerges in eighth as the only driver in the top ten to have pitted twice.

The Mercedes lead, followed by the Ferraris. Verstappen is fifth, trailed by the Racing Bulls of Lindblad, the Haas of Bearman, Norris in his McLaren, Gasly’s Alpine, and the Haas of Ocon.

Lap 35/58: Verstappen is monstering the back of Norris now as he looks to move up into fifth and then… Norris pits, giving the position to the Dutchman. The McLaren garage had been on the blower asking the defending champion how far he could push his tyres and let’s just say, Norris wasn’t enthusiastic.

Lap 34/58: Leclerc is on the charge, trying to close the gap on the two Mercedes and ensure that, if they can’t pull off an audacious one-stopper, he’ll be ready to pounce.

Oh, hold on, a virtual safety has been called for due to debris on the track. But it lasts all of a few seconds as the debris from Perez’s Cadillac are rapidly cleared.

Lap 33/58: After Russell said a one-stop strategy was viable, the Mercedes garage gets onto the radio and asks Antonelli his thoughts on such a strategy: “that would be brave.”

Lap 32/58: Verstappen is well and truly putting the pressure on Norris for fifth place, now sitting just under two seconds back of the McLaren.

Lap 31/58: Hello, is Alonso back out there? He is. After coming into the pit lane and looking like his day was done, the Aston Marin driver is back out there – albeit he’s 12 laps off the pace.

Lap 30/58: We’re more than halfway through the Australian grand prix and it’s Russell who leads from Mercedes teammate Antonelli, with the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton then coming through in third and fourth. Norris is fifth, followed by Verstappen, Lindblad, Bearman, Bortoleto, and Gasly in the top ten.

Lap 29/58: Russell gets on the radio and tells the Mercedes garage that, after a few laps to get used to the new tyres and the lead secured, he believes a one-stop strategy on his hard tyres is viable.

Sainz, who has been hardly sighted in his Williams this week due to mechanical issues, has quietly moved up from the back row of the grid and into 12th.

Updated

Lap 28/58: Overtake is active for Russell as he closes in on the back of Hamilton and he blasts past him on turn nine. The Brit once again leads the Australian grand prix. Antonelli remains third, followed by Leclerc, Norris, Verstappen, Lindblad, Bearman, Bortoleto, and Gasly.

After being overtaken, Hamilton pulls into the pits. A really good stop sees him emerge from the pit lane in fourth, just behind Leclerc.

Lap 27/58: The gap is now down to under a second between Hamilton and Russell, with the race leader pushing out for another lap as we approach the halfway mark of the race.

Lap 26/58: Hamilton stays out there for another lap, with Russell lurking ominously, just 1.4 seconds back from the Ferrari and drawing ever-closer to being able to activate overtake mode. Antonelli is just under eight seconds back of his teammate, with Leclerc eight further seconds back of the sophomore Mercedes driver.

Lap 25/58: Leclerc dives into the pits, heading in under green flag conditions. Hamilton moves into the lead, followed by Russell and Antonelli. Leclerc re-emerges in fourth place, in front of Norris, Verstappen, Lindblad, Bearman, Bortoleto, and Gasly.

Lap 24/58: Another lap passes without a Ferrari pit, they’re going to push the medium tyres they started the race with for as long as they can. Russell is now just three seconds back of Hamilton, giving him about three or so laps until he’s on top of them.

Lap 23/58: Piastri is pictured on the broadcast speaking to media, so we’ll hopefully soon have a greater insight into what went wrong during the installation lap that saw him crash out.

Leclarc and Hamilton remain on the track and remain first and second, with the Mercedes of Russell and Antonelli trailing.

Lap 22/58: Ferrari will have come into the race wanting to do a one-stop strategy and, there hand somewhat forced by the location of Bottas’ crash, they’re going to stick with that policy. The question now is, when do they come in?

Lap 21/58: Russell is slowly but surely closing the gap between himself and Hamilton – the margin between the two now down to five seconds.

Lap 20/58: Leclerc and Hamilton, denied a chance to pit (they’re now the only cars yet to do so), remain first and second. Russell and Antonelli follow, then comes Norris and Verstappen and Lindblad, with Bearman, Bortoleto, and Gasly round out the top ten.

Lap 19/58: The unfortunate location of Bottas’ breakdown means that the pit lane entrance is closed as marshals clear away the car. And as soon as it’s gone, the virtual safety car ends – denying the Ferraris a chance to pit.

Valtteri Botta breaks down in first race for Cadillac

Lap 18/58: Both Ferraris continue to set the pace but both are stull yet to pit.

Oh, no, I jinxed Bottas. He’s gone off the track just in front of turn 14. A virtual safety car is called for, a chance for Ferrari to pit?

Lindblad, Verstappen, Bearman, and Bortoleto, yet to pass the pit lane entrance at the time of the incident, all pit.

Updated

Lap 17/58: Alonso, Hadjar, Piastri, and Hulkenberg are our scratchings across the opening 17 laps, with Bottas in his Cadillac well well off the pace but staying out there, gathering data.

Lap 16/58: Antonelli has moved past Lindblad and into fourth, with the rookie now having to deal with Verstappen all over his back. Leclerc maintains the lead, with the gap between Hamilton and Russell now down to eight seconds.

Lap 15/58: Leclerc and Hamilton, both yet to pit, lead in Melbourne, with Russell, who has pitted, rolling through in third. Lindblad, who also hasn’t pitted, is fourth, followed by Antonelli, Verstappen (oh lawd he coming), Bearman, Bortoleto, Norris, and Ocon.

Hamilton expresses amazement when he’s told on the radio that Russell is only ten seconds back but is assured that this is all part of the plan.

Updated

Lap 14/58: Green flags wave and we resume racing. Alonso, however, looks done, getting on the radio and telling his team to stop the car as there’s an issue. Which issue, take your pick going off Aston Martin’s week.

Lap 13/58: Hamilton isn’t a fan of Ferrari keeping both he and Leclerc out there during the virtual safety car, getting on the radio and declaring that at least one of them should have come in.

And that’s interesting. It looked like the Ferrari crew was up and ready for at least one of their drivers to come in but both blew past the pit lane entrance at the end of the lap.

Updated

Lap 12/58: Hadjar did ever so well in qualifying but it appears on the replays that his gearbox has completely died on him. Very unfortunate. Russell and Antonelli have both pitted but, for now, Leclerc and Hamilton have remained out there.

Isack Hadjar out of the race

Lap 11/58: Hadjar has gone off! The Red Bull driver pulls up onto the grass just ahead of turn nine – his power unit seemingly done – and a virtual safety car has been called for.

Very rapidly, a host of cars dive into the pit lane, highlighted by Norris.

Hulkenberg, meanwhile, after breaking down during an installation lap, has also retired without recording a lap.

Updated

Lap 10/58: Leclerc leads from Russell, followed by Hamilton and Antonelli, who has rebounded from his horror start and his moving back up the grid. Hadjar and Lindblad are then followed by Norris, Ocon, and Verstappen, who has moved up to ninth. Gasly rounds up the top ten.

Updated

Lap 9/58: And now Hamilton has joined the party! He tries to sneakily move beyond both Leclerc and Russell as the two do battle and, while they’re able to hold them off, remains well-poised to bounce on any kind of error.

Verstappen, meanwhile, has moved up into the top ten.

Lap 8/58: Russell overtakes Leclerc and tries to accelerate away but his energy eventually runs dry and Leclerc takes advantage by getting in his slipstream, building up his juice, and taking the lead back! This is fun.

Lap 7/58: The cat and mouse game between Leclerc and Russell continues, the need for the Brit to manage his power and power recharging giving him an extra consideration as he looks to overtake.

Lap 6/58: Russell is all over the back of Leclerc but, for now, can’t find a way to bring his extra power to bear and find a way past the Ferrari. The Brit gets on the radio, complaining about a defensive move from Leclerc being dangerous, which the broadcast quickly diagnoses as being for the stewards benefit, not his team.

Lap 5/58: What a start for the rookie Lindblad, who started at ninth in his Racing Bulls car but has now moved up into sixth.

Lap 4/58: Leclerc leads from Russell, followed by Hamilton, Hadjar, and Antonelli. Lindblad sits in sixth, followed by Norris, Ocon, Gasly, and Bortoleto – the latter of whom is subject of a stewards investigation.

Lap 3/58: Leclerc has taken the lead back! So the power of the Mercedes won’t be a complete cheat code at this point. Hopium is back on the menu for Ferrari.

Updated

Lap 2/58: Leclerc’s lead was nice while it lasted, as the power of the Mercedes comes to the fore as Russell rockets past him for the lead. Hamilton sits in third, followed by Hadjar and then the rookie Lindblad and defending champion Norris. Antonelli remains in seventh, with Ocon, Gasly and Alonso, yes Alonso, rounding out the ten.

Lap 1/58: Leclerc gets off the line rapidly and emerges from turn one in the lead! The Ferrari’s rapid starts prove to be an accurate prediction! Hamilton, meanwhile, is up to third!

Russell has been able to stay up in second but Antonelli has found himself enveloped and fallen from the front row and down into eighth.

Lights out

We are under way in Melbourne!

Updated

The formation lap is now underway. At the rate we’re going, we’re going to be lucky to get to the start line without more drama…

Updated

The national anthem has been sung, by the way, so we’re getting very close to lights out in Melbourne.

Confirmation coming through that, after he was pushed onto the grid with his nose facing the wrong way, Hulkenberg is going to start this race from pit lane.

Former driver Antony Davidson has said on Sky Sports that it appears as though Piastri experienced a ‘torque spike’ as the engine power went through cold tyres. “His mind was focused on the battery,” Davidson explained, before saying the incident appeared to be a combination of driver and mechanical error.

Guenther Steiner grabbed McLaren’s Zak Brown on the coverage to try and get some insight into why Piastri went into the wall but, for now, there’s not a lot forthcoming. Not seeing anything on the data, per the American, while taven’t talked to Oscar and will have to investigate post-race.

Updated

After spinning out in qualifying – giving him time to repair his stricken Red Bull – Verstappen will start today’s race from the unfamiliar confines of the second last row of the grid, only kept off the back row entirely by the failure of Sainz and Stroll to set any kind of lap time.

It feels inevitable that the Dutchman, his longstanding dominance over the sport broken last year by Norris, will weave his way through the pack once the race gets underway. But how he does so, as well as just how high he can rise and how he’ll navigate this task whilst dealing with the new regulations and power regeneration demands – which we’ve established he’s very much not a fan of – will be fascinating.

And if losing Piastri on an installation lap is any guide, there may be lots of chaos for him to take advantage of, too.

Tweets posted before unfortunate events.

Although, I guess what come next was unforgettable, too…

Good lord. Hulkenberg looks like he’s had some issues during an installation lap, too, flat out losing power towards the tail end of the course and now being pushed towards his place on the grid by members of the Audi team. What is happening?

The locals are not taking it well.

Updated

Absolute dejection is evident on the local fans who had come out to see Piastri, only to now hear that their local hope won’t even make lap one.

Speaking on the local coverage, a glum Damon Hill – a cake presented to him to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his win in Melbourne just moments before now sitting awkwardly in front of him – admits that it looks like it might be a case of driver error.

Updated

Oscar Piastri out of the race after crashing during installation lap

Incredible drama in Melbourne, as the hometown hero Oscar Piastri, the subject of so much attention during the build-up to the race, is out of the Australian Grand Prix after crashing out in the warm-up lap.

Coming out of turn four, the Australian’s car lost grip as he looked to accelerate, causing him to lose control and watch on helplessly as he went nose-first into the wall.

Updated

Drama in the warm-up lap! Piastri might be out of the Grand Prix! He’s gone into the wall during the warm-up lap. Boy oh boy, wowee.

Having delivered a somewhat more sturdy tyre this season, Pirelli are of the view that a one-stop strategy is the way to go for today’s race: starting out on mediums before pitting for hards between laps 20 to 26 or, alternatively, starting the race on softs before swapping them for hards between lap 15 to 21.

Unlike the chaos of last year, the whether should not play a factor in today’s race whatsoever, with the forecast calling for no rain and temperatures hovering in the low-to-mid 20s.

Ferrari showed their own signs of promise during preseason testing and have shown flashes of potential since landing in Melbourne – only for that to be overshadowed by the pace of the Mercedes.

Nonetheless, they’re widely expected to have the most rapid start of any of the teams today – Leclerc starting on the second row and Hamilton the fourth – and while they’re quite outmatched by the Mercedes when it comes to the high-speed sections of the track, they’ve actually shown more speed than anyone when it comes to cornering.

“It was a tough and rather chaotic qualifying session, but that was the same for everyone,” team principal Fred Vasseur said after qualifying. “You can do as much testing as you like, but it is never the same as tackling a real qualifying session with all the other cars around you. It was a new challenge and we did not manage to put everything together, as we had a few issues during the session.

“What is clear is that today the gap to Mercedes is significant and we will have to make progress to get closer to them. So far this weekend our pace has been decent, but there is still a lot for all the teams to discover and we have probably not yet seen everyone’s true potential. The most important thing is to learn from what we did not do well today and focus on tomorrow’s race.”

Fast-paced and with relatively few corners demanding significant breaking, the Albert Park circuit was never going to provide the best showcase of the new regulations and energy recharging requirements, but that hasn’t stopped early reviews of this season’s new rules and standards coming in from the drivers. Are they favourable? Well, no; words such as “sucks” bandied about, as well as “worst” and “completely against”.

“We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula One and the nicest to drive, to probably the worst. It sucks,” Norris said. “Everyone knows what the issues are. It’s just the fact it’s a 50-50 split [between power from the combustion engine and electrical energy].”

Giles Richards has more.

And we’ve, perhaps, already had a sneak preview of the challenges that drivers will confront as they come to grips with the demands of the new era.

The grid in Melbourne

An all-Mercedes front row will lead them out in Melbourne, with the Red Bull of Isack Hadjar, not Max Verstappen, following them in P3 after the Dutchman’s rear axle locked up and sent him spinning of the track in Q1 on Saturday.

1) George Russell Mercedes

2) Kimi Antonelli Mercedes

3) Isack 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

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) Valtteri Bottas Cadillac

20) Max Verstappen Red Bull

21) Carlos Sainz Williams

22) Lance Stroll Aston Martin

Also confirmed following qualifying was that Lance Stroll, whose beleaguered Aston Martin didn’t even attempt to take part in qualifying due to engine issues, will start from the back of the grid after putting forth a “compelling” appeal to FIA stewards.

“It’s been a tough weekend so far with a few issues that have kept us from getting the laps we needed,” Stroll said before the confirmation he’d be allowed to race. “The team in the garage have been working really hard, but there just wasn’t enough time to get the car rebuilt before Qualifying.

“We’re not where we want to be at the moment, but we’ll keep pushing and keep working to improve.”

Antonelli to start from front row of the grid

To start with some news from post-qualifying, it’s been confirmed that Antonelli will start from the front row of the grid despite his car being released in an unsafe condition during Q3. After his team had worked feverishly to repair his car following a crash in FP3, carbon fibre cooling devices still attached to his car when he left the pits, one if which dislodged and was promptly run over by eventual sixth-placed qualifier, McLaren’s Lando Norris.

“Overall, I think P6 is a reasonable starting position for tomorrow, given some of the issues we’ve had coming into qualifying,” Norris said. “I’m not happy about P6, and I do think P3 was doable, given we lost some performance after hitting debris. But, having missed a lot of time in FP1 yesterday, alongside some of the other challenges we’ve been dealing with so far this weekend, it’s not a bad starting position. We’re in the mix, which is where we wanted to be, so we’ll prepare for tomorrow and focus on doing what we can to move forward.”

Instead of receiving a grid penalty for the infraction, however, Mercedes will instead receive a fine.

“I clearly like to make my life difficult!” Antonelli said post-qualifying. “We were on the back foot after my crash in FP3 but today, the heroes are the mechanics and everyone in the garage. I cannot thank them enough for repairing my car in time for qualifying. We were so tight on time that we weren’t even able to set the car up properly, but they still gave me a rapid machine that enabled us to lock out the front-row.

“We now have the chance to fight for a good result tomorrow. There are no points scored on Saturday, and it will be a long Grand Prix with these new cars. It is only the first race of the year and there are still lots of unknowns and things that can trip us up. We will need to do a good job tomorrow to turn this positive into a good points haul. I’m excited for the challenge and to get the season underway properly.”

Updated

Preamble

Howdy all, it’s ya boi Joey Lynch here and welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of the opening race of the 2026 Formula One World Championship, coming to you live and local from Melbourne, Australia.

Finally, after months of anticipation and testing, weeks of apprehension as the United States and Israel’s attack on Iran through travel plans into chaos, days of hints and reading between the lines as we got our first real look at the cars built for regulations introduced for the 2026 season in practice, and then hours of discovery and rancour as they placed their cards on the table and drivers sounded off on the brave new world they now occupy, it’s time for some actual racing.

Preseason predictions proven devastatingly accurate by yesterday’s qualifying session, it will be an all-Mercedes front row when the lights go out at Albert Park: George Russell delivering, quite comfortably, the fastest lap in Q3 yesterday and his teammate Kimi Antonelli the only one who could get anywhere close to him.

It’s going to be a big day – with probably just as much focus on the new regulations and how they’ve changed the sport as there is on the actual racing – so get comfy.

Updated

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