George Russell made the perfect start in the season opener of the new 2026-spec Formula 1 world championship with pole position at Melbourne. It’s a Mercedes front row with Kimi Antonelli taking P2 followed by Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull.
Russell dominated all three segments of qualifying and led teammate Kimi Antonelli by three tenths in Q3, with third-placed Isack Hadjar eight tenths slower. Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri made up the top five.
Max Verstappen’s qualifying session ended early when he spun out on his very first flying lap.
Q1 was red-flagged when Verstappen’s crash occurred, with less than eight minutes remaining. The four-time world champion spun at high speed when braking for Turn 1, with his rear wheels presumably locking.
At that moment, Russell led the classification by nearly four tenths with a time of one minute, 19.840 seconds. His Mercedes teammate Antonelli was in the drop zone after his FP3 crash, joined by Verstappen, Carlos Sainz – who had a technical issue in FP3 – and Lance Stroll, despite Aston Martin’s terrible engine nightmare.
None of the four had a lap time on the board. They were led by the Cadillacs, which were also at risk in P17 and P18, and were one second slower than Aston’s Fernando Alonso in P16.
As Russell improved with one minute, 19.507 seconds, Antonelli easily made it to Q2, leaving Franco Colapinto on the edge of elimination. However, a last-minute improvement by the Alpine ended Alonso and Aston Martin’s session.
Russell set the pace in Q2 again with the first one minute, 18 seconds lap of the weekend, namely a lap in one minute, 18.934 seconds, leading Piastri by 0.648 seconds. With five minutes remaining, Pierre Gasly, Oliver Bearman, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Colapinto and Lewis Hamilton were in the drop zone. The seven-time world champion had gone fastest in the first sector but backed out of his lap.
Russell went on to set the only other one minute, 18 seconds lap in that segment, though he was unable to improve on his benchmark by half a tenth. He still led everyone else by four tenths. Further back, Hamilton jumped to seventh, while Esteban Ocon’s lack of progress saw him drop down to P13. Gasly and Albon also unable to improve, with the Williams driver running wide in Turn 1.
Gabriel Bortoleto narrowly made it through for Audi, but he stopped with a technical issue at pit entry, meaning only nine cars took part in Q3 – the Mercedes, Ferraris, McLarens, Racing Bulls, and Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull.
The top ten shootout was red-flagged early on after cooling fans were left on Antonelli’s car. One flew away in the Turn 1 braking zone, the other on the straight towards Turn 3. Lando’s left-hand wheel ran over the latter, and it disintegrated. Antonelli is under investigation over his car being released in an unsafe condition.
Russell’s first Q3 attempt was slower than both his Q2 run, a time of one minute, 19.084 seconds, but he still was half a second faster than Norris and Hadjar, with Leclerc, Piastri and Hamilton more than a second off. Antonelli ran wide into the Turn 3 gravel trap and backed out.
The Mercedes driver, however set a time with one minute, 18.811 seconds on his last lap – but Russell was supreme and went three tenths faster in one minute, 18.518 seconds.
Hadjar took third for Red Bull in one minute, 19.903 seconds but was nearly eight tenths away. He narrowly outpaced Leclerc and Piastri, with Norris and Hamilton just under a second off pole position.
Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad battled for eighth position, with the Kiwi coming out on top as the rookie lost a second in sector two.
So the sandbags are finally off from the Silver Arrows after a solid pre-season test. The true pace of the Mercedes is finally revealed in this qualifying session with a front row lock out. It will be interesting if the car is reliable in the race next.
Australian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:18.518
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:18.811
3 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:19.303
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.327
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.380
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.475
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:19.478
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:19.994
9 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:21.247
10 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:20.221
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:20.303
12 Oilver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:20.311
13 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:20.491
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:20.501
15 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:20.941
16 Franco Colapinto Williams-Mercedes 1:21.270
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:21.969
18 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:22.605
19 Valterri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:23.244
20 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford No time
21 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes No time
22 Lance Stroll ston Martin-Honda No time
George Russell sealed pole position for the first race of the season in Australia, beating Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar’s efforts while Max Verstappen suffered an unexpected early exit.
The Mercedes driver established his spot at the top early on, dominating throughout each segment of Qualifying before posting a stunning final lap of 1m 18.518s to establish a major advantage over the rest of the field.
Antonelli was second to polish off a superb day for the Brackley outfit, while Hadjar shone on his Red Bull debut to claim third place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and home hero Oscar Piastri.
A tough session for reigning World Champion Lando Norris left him to line up in P6, besting the attempts of Lewis Hamilton and Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. After impressing with his Q2 time to squeeze through to Q3, Gabriel Bortoleto was ruled out of the final shootout due to a technical issue on his in-lap, leaving him in P10.
The second Audi of Nico Hulkenberg missed the cut for Q2, as did Haas’ Ollie Bearman, who will start the Australian Grand Prix in P12 ahead of his team mate Esteban Ocon.
Despite some strong showing in pre-season testing, both Alpine drivers departed Q2 in 14th and 16th place, with Pierre Gasly edging out Franco Colapinto. Alex Albon, the only Williams to partake in the session, split the two to take P15.
The shock story from Q1 was a major crash for Red Bull’s Verstappen, who went careering into the barrier at the beginning of a flying lap. He was fortunately unharmed and reported over the radio: “The car just locked on the rear axle. Fantastic.”
Colapinto’s late effort demoted Fernando Alonso to P17, while the Cadillac pair of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were also knocked out in 18th and 19th respectively. They will line up ahead of Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Lance Stroll, with the latter two not partaking in Qualifying at all.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/russell-storms-to-pole-position-for-the-season-opening-australian-gp-as.59kj0cIRcQVqXUSKPp5KzG
Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix has been red-flagged after four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen crashed into the barriers at the first corner.
As he hit the brakes, the rear axle locked, leaving the Dutchman helpless as the car spun before it skidded over the gravel and crashed into the wall. Thankfully, the Red Bull driver was able to exit the car unassisted.
“Yep,” he confirmed to Red Bull when asked if he was OK. “The car just ******* locked on the rear axles. Fantastic.”
Although Verstappen confirmed he was OK to his race engineer, he was seen shaking his hand and wrist. Replays showed that he did not take his hands off the steering wheel at the time of the impact. He will likely visit the medical centre as a precaution.
Former driver and Sky Sports F1 analyst Martin Brundle explained that it was not driver error that caused the crash.
“That’s not a driver error,” the Briton said. “I was going to say ‘how often do you see Max Verstappen just make a fundamental error?’ He’s hit the brakes and it has just locked the rear axle. You can’t pull handbrakes on anymore in modern cars, in older ones you could.”
While the crash was clearly the last thing that Verstappen needed, the delay meant that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was able to get out for the remaining seven minutes of Q1. After suffering a violent crash during FP3 earlier today, it looked unlikely that the Brackley outfit would get the Italian’s car repaired in time.
While speaking to the media after the first two practice sessions in Melbourne, Verstappen was positive but explained that Red Bull still had “quite a bit of work to do”.
“Yeah, I mean we had quite a decent pre-season,” he said. “It’s been, I think, a big learning curve but we’ve been running well, we’ve been doing a lot of laps so there’s actually not really a lot that we could have wished for that could have gone better.
“But in terms of performance, I don’t know, I think we still have quite a bit of work to do to be up front but this is also something that I had already planned, for it to be like that.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/max-verstappen-crashes-into-barriers-in-australian-gp-qualifying-causing-red-flag/10802879/
Fernando Alonso reckons Aston Martin must retire from the Australian Grand Prix the moment any slight issue appears to avoid compromising the forthcoming rounds in the 2026 Formula 1 campaign.
The Silverstone outfit has been the talk of the paddock at this weekend’s Melbourne season opener, because problems have continuously struck the AMR26.
Its Honda power unit is perhaps the biggest worry because excessive vibrations have left the team without any spares and the situation is so dire, that Aston Martin thinks it’s limited to 25 of the scheduled 58 laps in Sunday’s race.
Aston Martin will start the contest in 17th (Alonso) and last (Lance Stroll) after the two-time F1 champion’s team-mate failed to leave his garage in both FP3 and qualifying due to mechanical faults.
Alonso said: “We will be flexible every lap, we will monitor the situation. As Adrian [Newey] said yesterday, we are short on parts, so there is no secret on that.
“And China is next week. So hopefully we can do as many laps as possible, hopefully we can do nearly the whole race.
“But, the first sign that there is something potentially wrong, we cannot risk running until we make some big damage and then we compromise next week. So we will have to be very flexible.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/fernando-alonso-reveals-when-aston-martin-should-retire-from-f1-australian-gp/10802911/
Kimi Antonelli labelled his Mercedes mechanics as “heroes” for fixing his car in time to make qualifying for Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix after his hefty FP3 shunt threatened to derail his weekend.
The Italian had taken too much kerb at Turn 2 during the final stages of FP3 while attempting to start his qualifying simulation run, and careened into the outside wall as a result. His car came to rest next to the inside wall, with debris littering the circuit.
Mercedes had about two hours to repair Antonelli’s car, turning his side of the garage into a hive of activity. It was still on the stands when qualifying started, surrounded by boxes of spare parts – but the team remained hopeful of getting Antonelli into qualifying.
Max Verstappen’s Q1 shunt helped Mercedes out as the clock was stopped, ensuring that Antonelli was able to take to the pitlane once the session restarted. Contending with the knock-on effects of the shunt, Antonelli nonetheless scythed his way into Q3 and plonked his car on the front row alongside team-mate and polesitter George Russell.
Antonelli thanked his mechanics for getting his car back into working order for qualifying, where he was just 0.293s shy of Russell.
“Yeah, it’s been a very, very stressful day,” Antonelli explained after qualifying. “Unfortunately, in FP3, I went into the wall but the guys, the mechanics today were the heroes to put the car back on track.
“And we couldn’t even set up the car, we just went out and just managed to put it on the front row. So I’m really happy with that.
“It was not easy. I had to dig deep. But yeah, I need to have a clean weekend next time because I definitely compromised a little bit qualifying. But we have a race tomorrow to look ahead and a good result is possible.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/antonelli-praises-mercedes-heroes-for-vast-repairs-ahead-of-australian-gp-qualifying/10802931/
George Russell was left to celebrate a “great day” for Mercedes after claiming pole position for the 2026 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with the Briton admitting that the car “came alive” in Qualifying as he led a 1-2 for the team ahead of Kimi Antonelli.
Having displayed strong pace throughout both Q1 and Q2 on Saturday in Melbourne, Russell again looked quick during Q3 as he surged to the top spot on a lap of 1m 18.518s, giving him an advantage of 0.293s over Antonelli – the team having repaired the latter’s car in time following a heavy crash in final practice.
While the Silver Arrows had been touted by many as one of the favourites ahead of the campaign, Russell was pleased to see that promise realised on the track.
“It was a great day,” the 28-year-old reflected after Qualifying. “We knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until you get to this first Saturday of the season you never know.
“It really came alive this afternoon, especially when the track temp cooled – we know we sort of tend to favour those conditions.
“I’m also really happy to have Kimi here next to me as well because it’s been such a hard job from all the team to deliver this car and they did an amazing job in the garage as well today, so all in all a really good day.”
Looking ahead to what Sunday might bring, Russell conceded that there is an element of unpredictability given the introduction of new technical regulations for 2026.
“I’m excited for the race tomorrow and I think it can bring some quite exciting racing,” he explained. “Also for you guys in the crowd that’s always amazing every time we come to Melbourne, so thank you so much for all of that support for all of us, and hopefully we can deliver a good race.
“I think a lot of the simple things in the past, like race starts and pit stops, are a hell of a lot more challenging with these new cars.
“I said it to the team in the garage at the beginning of Q3 there, let’s just have a clean session because who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. Obviously we’ll all try and work hard tonight. [Today was] a really great day – we’re in the best place possible.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/the-car-really-came-alive-russell-hails-great-day-after-taking-pole-position.1H93EBZzwLpktrlQ0r3gRI
McLaren’s Lando Norris says Formula 1 has “gone from the best cars ever to probably the worst” as he lamented the huge emphasis on energy harvesting, while Australian Grand Prix polesitter George Russell defended the new rules.
Russell qualified on pole ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli as Mercedes confirmed its pre-season favourite status in Melbourne, the pair comfortably leaping clear of third-placed Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull.
Saturday’s qualifying session was more low-key for defending world champion Norris as the McLaren driver took sixth place. But more so than the result, Norris was downbeat about the new reality of driving the 2026 cars, which need to be carefully nursed around the track to optimise the power unit’s electric energy harvesting needs. Cars are now lighter and more nimble, but they were also seen slowing down dramatically towards the previously challenging Turn 9-10 switchback at Albert Park.
“I think everyone knows what the issues are,” Norris said. “It’s just the fact it’s a 50-50 split and it just doesn’t work. Straightline mode means you’ve got a lot of other issues at hand.
“You decelerate so much before corners, you have to lift everywhere to make sure the [battery] pack’s at the top. If the pack’s too high, you’re also screwed. It’s just difficult, but it’s what we have. It doesn’t feel good as a driver, but I’m sure George is smiling. You’ve just got to maximise what you’re going to give him.
“We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1 and the nicest to drive to probably the worst. It sucks, but you have to live with it.”
In Q3, Norris ran over a piece of debris shed by Antonelli, who was sent out on track with cooling devices still attached to the Mercedes. And according to the Briton, the fact he had to focus on his dashboard meant he didn’t see the debris until it was too late.
“I’m looking at my steering wheel,” he explained. “It’s why I don’t see the debris, because I have to look at the speed I’m going to get at the end of the straight and know if I need a brake 30 metres earlier, 10 metres later. That’s also the problem. You have to look at the steering wheel every three seconds to see what’s going to happen, otherwise you’re going to end up off the track.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-f1-has-gone-from-best-to-worst-cars-ever/10802944/