Grand Prix

F1 Results and Report as Thriller Ushers In New Era at 2026 Australian Grand Prix

Full report and results from the 2026 Formula 1 season opener at Albert Park.
Ewan Gale|
Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

George Russell led home a Mercedes 1-2 as Formula 1's new era kicked off with a thrilling Australian Grand Prix.

The Briton finished three seconds ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli after a race ultimately dictated by strategy.

Charles Leclerc was third ahead of Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton as the top four stretched well clear of the field, as reliability played a part early in Melbourne.

Piastri and Hulkenberg out before the race

The home crowd was delivered a devastating blow over 35 minutes before the race had even started as Oscar Piastri found the barriers on his first reconnaissance lap out of the garage.

An upshift as he hit the exit kerb at Turn 4 pitched his McLaren into a spin, heavily damaging the right side of his car on the concrete wall on the outside of the entry to Turn 5.

Piastri returned to the paddock, cutting a distraught figure as he became the second driver in as many years to crash before the start of the race at Albert Park after Isack Hadjar retired on debut during the formation lap in 2025, albeit in treacherous conditions.

There was also trouble for Nico Hulkenberg on Audi's F1 debut, the German's R26 wheeled off the grid and into the garage from the 11th grid spot.

Ferrari race start lives up to expectations

George Russell, Mercedes, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Australian GP 2026
Mercedes-Benz Media

The highly anticipated first start of the new era saw Ferrari set off just as expected.

Leclerc flew off the line to jump from fourth to the lead and ahead of Russell, while Antonelli plummeted to seventh by the end of the first lap.

Arvid Lindblad had got as far as third on his first lap in F1 before being ousted by Hamilton.

The top 10 at the end of the first lap was vastly different from the starting grid, with Esteban Ocon in eighth, Pierre Gasly in ninth and Fernando Alonso up to 10th for Aston Martin.

But it soon became clear that the new power unit regulations demanded chess-like tactics, with Leclerc and Russell exchanging the lead in the first three laps.

Hamilton was by far the fastest driver on track in the opening laps as he honed in on the top two following his early skirmish with Lindblad and Isack Hadjar.

Max Verstappen was on a charge on the hard tires, pulling off a scintillating move around the outside of Alex Albon at Turn 9 on lap four and reaching 12th by lap five, while Antonelli was on a recovery mission, moving back past Lando Norris and Lindblad to get back into the top five.

After five laps of following Leclerc, Russell made a lunge at Turn 3 to retake the lead on lap eight. That didn't last long, though, as the Ferrari swept back past at Turn 9.

The first hint of a mistake came with a lock-up into Turn 1 on the following lap, which gave Hamilton a chance as the top three ran towards Turn 3. Somehow, the order remained the same.

Verstappen had made it into the top 10 by lap 10, though found himself almost a pitstop behind the leaders, having fought through traffic.

Hadjar heartbreak triggers pitstop frenzy

The first in-race retirement came when Hadjar's Red Bull came to a smoky halt on the run to Turn 9, triggering a virtual safety car.

That led to a flurry of pit stops, notably a double-stack for Mercedes as well as Norris, Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Albon, Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson, Alonso and Lance Stroll, while Franco Colapinto had earlier stopped to serve a stop-and-go penalty for a start procedure infringement.

Ferrari, though, opted not to stop either car and therefore assumed a 1-2 position with Leclerc ahead of Hamilton.

When racing got back underway, Alonso returned to the pits with an issue, though he would later rejoin some 10 laps later.

Lawson and Sergio Perez showed there remains no love lost between the pair as the Racing Bull and Cadillac banged wheels through the first sector on lap 16 - Mexican Perez remaining ahead initially before ceding 14th.

Bottas return ends early

A second VSC was triggered by Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac stopping on the inside of the pit entry, allowing Lindblad, Verstappen and Oliver Bearman to all dive into the pits.

Ferrari again seemingly missed a trick and by the time the two SF-26s came back around, the pit entry was closed to allow marshals to recover Bottas' stricken car. The VSC then abrubtly ended, leaving Leclerc and Hamilton still on their original tires.

Verstappen wasted no time in getting past rookie Lindblad upon the resumption and moved into sixth, facing a five-second gap to last year's title rival Norris.

It took Ferrari until lap 25 to call Leclerc in for a pitstop, the Monegasque rejoining fourth.

Hamilton instead tried to extend his stint and did not follow in on the following lap. He was left vulnerable to his former teammate Russell.

The Mercedes retook the lead at Turn 9 on lap 28 with ease with the fresher tires paying dividends - Hamilton peeling straight into the pits.

Strategy headaches begin to show

With Ferrari on the button for a one-stop race, Russell suggested that his tire life was strong enough to go to the end on a mammoth 46-lap stint.

Mercedes asked Antonelli on lap 33 if he could do the same with the reply short and sweet: "That will be brave".

A quick third VSC was deployed to collect a bargeboard that had fallen off Perez's Cadillac on the run to Turn 9, with Norris pitting for a second time after green flag running resumed, the McLaren chewing through tires.

Alonso's race finally came to an end on lap 36 as Aston Martin aimed to conserve parts for China next week, leaving 17 cars running with 20 laps remaining. Stroll in the second AMR26 stopped for some 12 laps

Verstappen was next to make a second stop to switch back to the hards for the final 17 laps, falling back behind Norris.

Meanwhile, up front, Ferrari's drivers were unable to really pressurize the Mercedes duo into pushing their wearing tires as the race entered its final 10 laps, the gap between second-place Antonelli and Leclerc in third still at around nine seconds.

And so it transpired that Mercedes was comfortable out in front with Russell leading Antonelli home.

Leclerc faced a late challenge from a charging Hamilton but held on to complete the podium, albeit it could have been more had Ferrari's strategy been more clever.

Norris held off Verstappen's advances to finish fifth, over 50 seconds adrift of the race winner.

Bearman was seventh for Haas with Lindblad capping off a fine debut weekend in the Racing Bull with points, holding off Bortoleto on the final lap in the battle for eighth as Audi made a strong impression on its own championship bow.

Gasly rounded out the top 10 to secure a point for Alpine, with Ocon, Albon, Lawson, Colapinto, Sainz completing the top 15.

Perez made the chequered flag to round out a mammoth effort for Cadillac in its first race as F1's 11th team, while Stroll made the finish against all odds, albeit 12 laps down.

Position

Driver / Team

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

DNF

Fernando Alonso / Aston Martin

DNF

Valtteri Bottas / Cadillac

DNF

Isack Hadjar / Red Bull

DNS

Nico Hulkenberg / Audi

DNS

Oscar Piastri / McLaren

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Ewan Gale
EWAN GALE

Ewan is a motorsport journalist covering F1 for Grand Prix On SI. Having been educated at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, and subsequently graduating from university with a sports journalism degree, Ewan made a move into F1 in 2021. Ewan joins after a stint with Autosport as an editor, having written for a number of outlets including RacingNews365 and GPFans, during which time he has covered grand prix and car launches as an accredited member of the media.

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