F1 Australian Grand Prix 2026 Winners and Losers

Formula 1 returned to action with the first race of 2026 at the Australian Grand Prix as Mercedes and George Russell set their stalls out for the title battle to come.

Russell dominated to lead home a Silver Arrows 1-2, with Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton behind.

But with there being as many hard luck stories as those who prospered and plenty of criticism aimed at F1's new regulations, it's time to take a look at the winners and losers at Albert Park.

Winner - Mercedes

George Russell Mercedes F1 Australia | Mercedes Content Pool

There is only one place to start, given the dominance on display from Russell. He squashed the opposition with a blistering pole position lap in qualifying and was able to hold off Leclerc's early advances to retain the high ground on raceday.

A strong strategy helped take away the Ferrari challenge early on, with Russell coasting to victory.

But the biggest win for Mercedes was actually Kimi Antonelli's performance over the weekend. A heavy FP3 crash threatened to derail the event for the young Italian, yet with confidence and style, he delivered under huge pressure in qualifying to reach the front row.

And again his composure was tested on Sunday as he fell from second to seventh on the first lap, but he didn't panic, gradually fought his way back through the pack and completed the Mercedes 1-2.

It looks like the team has two drivers in a title race. Australia was a huge box ticked on all fronts.

Loser - McLaren

Oscar Piastri has crashed and is OUT of the Australian Grand Prix before it begins 😮#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/5prGby7dNC
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2026

Last year's constructors' champion turned up to Australia with a car that had the same power unit as the winning machinery, yet finished 50 seconds down and fifth. That's an alarming gap for McLaren to try and get its head around, but in truth, it never looked like it had the pace to fight for the win.

By far the biggest nightmare of the weekend was Oscar Piastri's crash on the way to the grid pre-race, leaving his home crowd in a state of shock.

That puts the Australian on the back foot already. He now needs to arrive at the Chinese sprint weekend with no experience of racing with the new car,

The pace just wasn't there for McLaren, and it is clear that development is needed. Otherwise, it could be a long year.

Winner - Audi

For all the issues that the new power unit regulations have thrown up, for Audi to arrive at its first race and secure a points finish is an impressive undertaking.

As expected, the weekend didn't run without issue for the German manufacturer, which was in its first F1 race after taking over the former Sauber operation. But the pace shown by the R26 was challenging the top of the early midfield, with Gabriel Bortoleto edging out teammate Nico Hulkenberg for a place in Q3.

And while the Brazilian ultimately wouldn't take part in that session and Hulkenberg would fail to start the race due to technical issues, Bortoleto's in-race pace was hugely promising.

A slow start saw him lose positions, yet he was able to claw his way back into the top 10, only just failing to get past Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad in the closing stages. It's a strong platform for the team to build from.

Loser - Aston Martin

Adrian Newey, Aston Martin, Australian GP 2026 — Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team

The fact that Aston Martin has been praised for the number of laps it managed in Sunday's race just underlines the dire situation the team finds itself in.

After a media briefing on Thursday with Adrian Newey, it seemed unlikely that the AMR26 would even race, let alone complete what amounted to a test session on Sunday. But it is clear to see that the new car has been heavily hamstrung by the Honda power unit, with its excessive vibrations and lack of reliability and spare batteries.

With the scale of the issues encountered, it is likely to be the same story for Aston Martin for the foreseeable future. A painful way to start a new era.

Winner - Arvid Lindblad

Arguably the driver of the weekend, Lindblad enjoyed an incredible start to life as an F1 driver.

The Briton had been ahead of teammate Liam Lawson across every session before a battery deployment issue in Q3 left him behind the Kiwi on the grid.

A blistering start saw Lindblad rise from ninth on the grid [eighth on track given Piastri's pre-race incident] to third momentarily as he went wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton's Ferrari. And while that didn't last, given the Racing Bulls' deficiencies compared to those at the top of the early pecking order, Lindblad eventually held on for eighth on debut.

Lindblad is also hugely impressive off-track when surrounded by media, talking with maturity far beyond his years.

If that's what is to come from the Red Bull prospect over his career, then a star has been born.

Loser - F1

Our journey around the world to crown the 2026 champion is GO! 🌏👑#F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/W3Aa3bx7zz
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 8, 2026

No matter what you think of the new regulations, there is no getting away from the amount of criticism being leveled at F1 and the FIA after preseason testing and the first weekend of the year.

Max Verstappen seems to be leading the calls for change having already labelled the new power units as 'anti-racing' but perhaps worse for F1 than the outright criticism is the mockery of the rules that has taken place.

Mario Kart is one of the comparisons being drawn, with Leclerc suggesting his overtake mode was like a mushroom in the famous Nintendo franchise.

If the level of criticism continues when it is unlikely things can easily change, then this year could be a PR disaster for the championship. We will just have to wait and see how that plays out.