Kimi Antonelli achieved his second career victory in Formula 1 and becomes the new championship points leader. The timing of the safety car helped the Mercedes driver to gain track position over Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

As was the case in the previous two races, the Ferraris made an excellent getaway, but this time it was not enough to take the lead as the McLarens were just as quick off the grid too. Piastri went first ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, as Mercedes drivers Antonelli and Russell dropped to sixth and fourth respectively from the first row.

However, it took just a single lap for Antonelli to make his way past Lewis Hamilton in fifth, then Russell overtook Norris for third on the following lap and Leclerc for second on lap four – those three overtakes going into Turn 1.

Russell started pressuring race leader Piastri on lap seven. He dove down the inside in the chicane on the following lap, but Oscar strike back on the next straight.

Antonelli finally found a way past Norris to take fourth on lap 11, with the top six drivers still within six seconds. Kimi overtook Charles into the chicane on lap 15, but had a wild move exiting the corner and was repassed.

Norris was the first frontrunner to pit on lap 16 as he tried to attempt to undercut Leclerc and Antonelli. Piastri also pitted earlier than Russell, preserving his lead. And yet seconds after Geroge’s pitstop, an accident involving Oliver Bearman turned the race fortune.

Surprised by the closing speed relative to Franco Colapinto going into Spoon Curve, the Haas driver ended up losing control on the grass and suffered a 50G crash, with the safety car neutralising the race. Ollie was diagnosed with a right knee contusion.

Antonelli and Hamilton were yet to change tyres and enjoyed a free pitstop in this safety car situation, moving up to first and fourth, with Piastri and Russell between them.

This also meant that everyone had pitted at the halfway point of this Suzuka race, so it was a straight contest to the chequered flag.

As the green flag was waved on lap 28, Hamilton grabbed third from Russell straight away, while Antonelli increased the gap to Piastri – it reached five seconds in just eight laps.

Russell put pressure on Hamilton but never found a way past, then was overtaken by Leclerc on lap 37. The trio kept battling for the final step on the podium, with Leclerc going around the outside of Hamilton in Turn 1 on lap 42 and Russell repeating that overtake on the following lap.

The seven-time world champion was losing pace and only held off Norris until lap 51, shortly after Russell passed Leclerc for third in the chicane – but the Ferrari driver fought back in Turn 1.

Antonelli eventually outpaced Piastri by 14 seconds and scored his second consecutive Grand Prix victory, becoming the youngest multiple Grand Prix winner in history at 19 years and seven months old – Max Verstappen was 20 when he achieved it.

Kimi also takes the lead of the drivers’ championship from teammate Russell as the sport takes a five-week break following the cancellation of Bahrain and Jeddah.

Behind the top six, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took a remarkable seventh-place finish – holding off Red Bull’s Verstappen, who felt like he was “driving without power steering”, so heavy his steering was.

Esteban Ocon and Arvid Lindblad established themselves at the bottom of the top ten early on, ahead of Isack Hadjar, but those three drivers pitted before the safety car period and therefore lost out.

As a consequence, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto gained the last two points-scoring positions, but the Audi driver dropped to P13 in the second half of the race, with Ocon retrieving P10.

Other than Bearman, the only retirement was Lance Stroll due to a suspected water pressure issue. At least Fernando Alonso made it to the finish this season with Aston Martin finishing in P18.

So congratulations to Andrea Kimi Antonelli with his back-to-back victories. Scoring his first in China and now his second in Japan is a fantasic achievement. To become the new championship leader is a bonus and it will be fascinating if Kimi can build this winning feeling at Miami.

Japanese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28:03.403
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +13.722s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +15.270s
4 George Russell Mercedes +15.754s
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +23.479s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +25.037s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +32.340s
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +32.677s
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +50.180s
10 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +51.216s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +52.280s
12 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +56.154s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +59.078s
14 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +59.848s
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +65.008s
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +65.773s
17 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +92.453s
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +1 lap
19 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
20 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes +2 laps
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari DNF

Andrea Kimi Antonelli achieved his second career pole position in Formula 1 by beating his Mercedes teammate George Russell at Suzuka, the scene of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Antonelli asserted his dominance on his Mercedes colleague George Russell so far this weekend, with youngster quicker than his elder in the last two free practice sessions as well as Q2 – by six tenths – and Q3 – by three.

The racing order was mostly unsurprising in Q1. Ferrari and Mercedes led McLaren at the front, while the Williams, Cadillac and Aston Martin cars are in the drop zone – like they did in both qualifying sessions in China – with five minutes remaining.

Late improvements by Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon allowed the former to jump to P15, with Oliver Bearman out in Q1 with a shocking P18 – the Haas driver currently stands in a remarkable fifth place in the drivers’ championship, but adding to his points tally will be a difficult this time around.

The troubled Aston Martin team ended up last and will line up in P21 and P22 on struggling Honda’s track, some three seconds off the pace…

Oscar Piastri then set the early pace in Q2, leading the Mercedes by three tenths, before Charles Leclerc, then Antonelli went even faster.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly established themselves as the two midfield cars in the top ten from Audi teammate, Nico Hulkenberg.

The Red Bulls, however, were on the limit of elimination. A late effort by Arvid Lindblad earned him P10 for Racing Bulls, kicking Verstappen out of Q3.

“I think there is something wrong with the car mate, it’s completely undriveable suddenly in this qualifying”, Verstappen told his race engineer on the radio. “Jumping on high speed in the rear suddenly.”

This was a disappointing qualifying for the four-time champion, who is the most successful driver at Suzuka. It will be a challenging race for the Verstappen due to the tricky RB22.

The first Q3 run saw Antonelli set the first one minute, 28 seconds lap of the weekend, with one minute, 28.778 seconds, with teammate Russell three tenths down with one minute, 29.076 seconds despite similar times in the opening sector of the lap.

McLaren outperformed Ferrari with Oscar Piastri three tenths ahead of Lando Norris and Leclerc, as Lewis Hamilton ended up one further tenth. The remaining Red Bull of Isack Hadjar was exactly 1.2 seconds off the pace.

Neither Mercedes driver improved on their times in the second Q3 run, despite Antonelli setting the fastest final sector overall. Ditto for the McLarens and Ferraris, in fact, so the order of the top six remained unchanged.

Gasly, however improved to take seventh position away from Hadjar, with the Alpine under one second away from pole position.

Bortoleto and Lindblad will make up the fifth row of the grid.

So congratulations to Kimi Antonelli with yet another pole position. He achieved his first at China in the previous race and Kimi looks strong compared to George. The Japanese Grand Prix is going to be fascinating.

Japanese Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:28.778
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.076
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.132
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:29.405
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:29.409
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:29.567
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:29.691
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:29.978
9 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:30.274
10 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:30.319
11 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:30.262
12 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:30.309
13 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:30.387
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:30.495
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:30.627
16 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:31.033
17 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:31.088
18 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:31.090
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:32.206
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:32.330
21 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.646
22 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:32.920

Kimi Antonelli achieved his first win in Formula 1 with a beautiful and mature drive in the Mercedes to score a top result in the Chinese Grand Prix, leading home a Silver Arrows 1-2 with the former Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton taking a podium for Ferrari.

Having becoming the youngest driver to start on pole position, Antonelli withstood the pressure from the Ferraris to finish in first place. Kimi only briefly lost P1 at the start when Hamilton jumped on both Mercedes from P3 with a quick getaway.

Re-taking the lead before the end of the second lap, the 19-year-old Mercedes driver was never headed again, retaining first after his only pit stop under the single safety car early in proceedings.

Despite a nervous moment after running deep at the Turn 14 hairpin with four laps to the chequered flag, Antonelli finished 5.5 seconds clear of George Russell to become the second youngest winner of a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Russell, who had won the sprint race, fought back to second position having found himself behind the battling Ferraris at the mid-point of the race after struggling for grip on the safety car restart, George maintains his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Hamilton took his first podium for Ferrari at the same venue where he claimed his only victory last season in the China sprint twelve months ago.

Charles Leclerc finished fourth, 28 seconds up from the Haas of Ollie Bearman. Involved in an early battle with his teammate Esteban Ocon and the Alpines, Bearman was able to clear Colapinto.

Gasly was sixth for Alpine, picking up a position when Max Verstappen retired with a power unit issue, which moved Liam Lawson up to seventh after the Racing Bull driver also batted away an assault from Isack Hadjar.

Hadjar had locked up his wheels at Turn 13 while battling against Bearman and had to stop at the end of the first lap, but recovered to collect his first points at Red Bull.

Carlos Sainz picked up the first points for Williams with ninth, keeping Colapinto at bay and yet picking up his first point for Alpine.

Colapinto pitted later into the race and came out ahead of the similarly late-stopping Ocon. The two made contact as Colapinto took a wider approach into Turn 3, and Ocon attempted to dive down the inside as the Alpine turned in. Ocon immediately accepted the blame for the incident, and also picked up a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.

Nico Hulkenberg and Arvid Lindblad missed out on the top ten, as Valtteri Bottas was classified ahead of Ocon and Sergio Perez to record Cadillac’s highest finish so far.

Both Aston Martins retired from the race, as Fernando Alonso called it a day after losing feeling in his hands due to the uncontrollable vibrations in his AMR26.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were unable to start with unrelated powertrain issues, with Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto also unable to take their positions on the grid.

So congratulations to Andrea Kimi Antonelli in achieving a top result in the sport with his first pole position followed by race victory in the Mercedes. It was a well deserved victory and hopefully the first of many for Kimi. Kudos!

Chinese Grand Prix, race results:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:33:15.607
2 George Russell Mercedes +5.515s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +25.267s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +28.894s
5 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +57.268s
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +59.647s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +80.588s
8 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +87.247s
9 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
10 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi +1 lap
12 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
13 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
14 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
15 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +1 lap
Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes DNS
Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes DNS
Gabriel Bortoleto Audi DNS
Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes DNS

Kimi Antonelli becomes Formula 1’s youngest driver to start on pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver will start in P1, sharing the front row slot with his teammate and championship leader George Russell. Former Silver Arrows driver Lewis Hamilton is P3 for Ferrari.

While attempting to score back-to-back poles, Russell came to a stop on track and, while he was able to get the car going again, he was unable to change gear. The Mercedes driver had to crawl back to the pits, opening the opportunity to a different polesitter this time around.

Antonelli went fastest in Q3 with a time of one minute, 32.322 secinds, and later improved to one minute, 32.064 seconds to set a benchmark for the other drivers to beat.

Lewis Hamilton was a keen challenger and set a time that was 0.315 seconds off, but Russell was able to get back on track for one final last-minute lap. Thus, Antonelli faced an agonising wait – one that paid off as Russell was only 0.222 seconds slower to lock out the front row for Mercedes.

Hamilton and Charles Leclerc will start on the second row for Ferrari, while the McLarens were both on row three. Oscar Piastri led Norris by 0.06 seconds in the battle for fifth on the grid.

Pierre Gasly interrupted the two-by-two nature of the grid by outqualifying the Red Bulls, as Max Verstappen was almost a second away from pole. The four time champion took eighth, ahead of teammate Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman in the Haas.

Nico Hulkenberg missed out on Q2 by just 0.002 seconds, while Franco Colapinto was another 0.003 seconds behind as the two just missed out on the opportunity to prise Hadjar out of the top ten.

Esteban Ocon was P13, but his attempts to improve were denied by a late yellow flag. This also affected Racing Bulls duo of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, who fell out in Q2 too. Lindblad had escaped elimination in Q1 after pitting with an issue, but the rookie was given the all-clear to continue.

The cause of the yellow flag was Gabriel Bortoleto, who looked set to improve from P16 before suffering a spin at the final corner. As the rear locked up, the Audi driver was pitched into a uncontrollable slide towards the barrier – although the gravel trap slowed him down enough to result in only a minor hit with the wall.

Carlos Sainz briefly looked to have made it into Q2 and moved up to P14 after his final lap, but soon dropped back into the elimination zone when Lindblad, Colapinto and Bortoleto all improved on their laps.

Thus, the same six cars were knocked out in both the sprint and the main race qualifying. Alex Albon also dropped out, moaning about his session as “terrible” as struggles continued at Williams.

Fernando Alonso is P19 on the grid, while Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas outqualified Lance Stroll. Sergio Perez, who has been suffering with reliability issues all weekend, will start last.

So congratulations to Andrea Kimi Antonelli with his first career pole position in Formula 1. This is his ‘second’ P1 after achieving a front row slot at the Miami sprint race last year. But this time, the Mercedes earned the number one spot on merit over his rivals.

Chinese Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:32.064
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.286
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:32.415
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:32.428
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.550
6 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.608
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:32.873
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:33.002
9 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:33.121
10 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:33.292
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:33.354
12 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:33.357
13 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:33.538
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:33.765
15 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:33.784
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:33.965
17 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:34.317
18 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:34.772
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Marin-Honda 1:35.203
20 Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:35.436
21 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda 1:35.995
22 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari 1:36.906

George Russell scored his first sprint race win of the season after winning the battle from the Ferraris to be victorious at the Shanghai International Circuit.

It was a rather entertaining sprint event with the Mercedes driver fighting his old teammate Lewis Hamilton for P1. The lead changed several times between the Silver Arrows and the Scuderia.

The Mercedes driver started from pole for the 19-lap sprint and unlike a week ago in Australia, Russell held the lead through the opening corners before conceding the position to Hamilton at Turn 9 – the Ferrari driver had started fourth on the grid.

The pair engaged in a fight for the lead, swapping positions across the early laps until Russell made the decisive move into the Turn 14 hairpin on Lap 5, pulling a gap to both Hamilton and Leclerc.

Leclerc eventually got the better of his teammate, finishing just 0.6 seconds behind Russell, the leading drivers having made a late pit stop following a safety car that was called when Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi needed to be retrieved.

Hamilton recovered to third position having dropped behind Lando Norris, the seven-time world champion was forced to stack behind Leclerc in the pits.

Norris claimed fourth from Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes driver having suffered a poor start from the front row and had to serve a ten-second penalty in the pits after a collision with Isack Hadjar on the opening lap.

Although Antonelli had been passed by Oscar Piastri on the restart, the McLaren driver appeared to have made the move before the start-finish line and was asked to move aside for the Mercedes driver.

Piastri finished sixth as a result, as Liam Lawson claimed seventh ahead of Oliver Bearman. Neither Lawson nor Bearman pitted, which offered track position but left them vulnerable late on to a hard-charging Max Verstappen – who missed out on points.

Verstappen dropped to the back after a very slow getaway, but recovered and yet missed out on the top eight after fighting past Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in the final stages of the race.

So an action-packed sprint race with so many lead changes and yet it is clear the Mercedes and Ferrari are very competitive. Russell continues his winning form by taking this sprint victory. It will be interesting if he can score another top result in the main race next.

Chinese Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 33:38.998
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.674s
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +2.554s
4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +4.433s
5 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +5.688s
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes +6.809s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +10.900s
8 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +11.271s
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +11.619s
10 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +13.887s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +14.780s
12 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +15.753s
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +15.858s
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +16.393s
15 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford +16.430s
16 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes +20.014s
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda +21.599s
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +21.971s
19 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +28.241s
Nico Hulkenberg Audi DNF
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford DNF

George Russell achieved his first sprint pole in his Formula 1 career by dominating sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, leading teammate Kimi Antonelli for a Mercedes 1-2.

Like he did in Melbourne, Russell was fastest in all three qualifying segments at Shanghai. The Silver Arrows easily outpaced rivals McLaren and Ferrari, with Max Verstappen only eighth for Red Bull.

Russell set the tone by going quickest in SQ1 with one minute, 33.030 seconds, leading the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. The other Mercedes of Antonelli was four tenths off, with the McLarens nearly eight tenths away.

Verstappen was only P11 then, complaining about his RB22’s “horrendous” driveability, followed by Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto.

A lock-up at Turn 11 and lap time improvements at Alpine meant Alex Albon was eliminated alongside Williams teammate Carlos Sainz, the Aston Martins and Valtteri Bottas, nearly two seconds slower than Fernando Alonso. Sergio Perez was unable to take part in the session due to a fuel system issue, after a similar technical problem took Bottas out of the Australian Grand Prix.

The Silver Arrows were last to take to the track in SQ2 but went to the top straight away, with Russell in one minute, 32.241 seconds and Antonelli in one minute, 32.570 seconds – but Kimi seemingly blocked Lando in Turn 1. Other than Leclerc in one minute, 32.602 seconds, nobody was fewer than nine tenths away from the lead Mercedes.

As Antonelli improved to one minute, 32.291 seconds, Verstappen went wide in the final corner. The Red Bull very narrowly emerged out of SQ2, with the four-time champion 0.071 seconds quicker than Nico Hulkenberg while his teammate Isack Hadjar was just 0.015 seconds ahead of the Audi.

Both Audis and Racing Bulls were eliminated, alongside Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto, whose teammates Bearman and Pierre Gasly outpaced the Red Bulls on their way to SQ3.

Russell’s first SQ3 benchmark was one minute, 31.520 seconds, outpacing Antonelli, Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen by 0.36 seconds, 0.64 seconds, 1.21 seconds and 1.73 seconds respectively. The other five cars, including the McLarens and Hadjar, remained in the garage until the last possible moment.

Antonelli improved by 0.07 seconds on his second lap. So did Leclerc by 0.20 seconds, but it was not enough to match their respective teammates. Norris got third, narrowly beating Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. Verstappen and Hadjar qualified down in eighth and tenth, with Gasly seventh.

So congratulations to George Russell with P1. His first sprint pole of his Formula 1 career. The Silver Arrows continues to impress with a front row locked out. Will be fascinating if the others can beat the pace settle in the sprint race.

Chinese Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.520
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.809
3 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.141
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:32.161
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.224
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:32.528
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes 1:32.888
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford 1:33.254
9 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1:33.409
10 Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford 1:33.723
11 Nico Hulkenberg Audi 1:33.635
12 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1:33.639
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford 1:33.714
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi 1:33.774
15 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford 1:34.048
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes 1:34.327
17 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes 1:34.761
18 Alex Albon Williams-Mercedes 1:35.305
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda 1:35.581
20 Lance Stroll Aston Marin-Honda 1:36.151
21 Valterri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari 1:37.378
22 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari No time

The Silver Arrows is back! Mercedes finished in P1 and P2 in the Australian Grand Prix in Formula 1’s new rules era, with George Russell winning from teammate Kimi Antonelli while a bad call on strategy cost Ferrari’s challenge.

The race started with heartbreak for the home fans as local hero Oscar Piastri crashed on his lap making his way to the starting grid. The McLaren driver lost control of his MCL40 at the exit of Turn 4, and therefore unable to start the race – like Nico Hulkenberg – whose Audi R26 encountered a problem on his way to the grid.

As indicated by pre-season testing, the Ferraris had the quickest getaway. Charles Leclerc, from fourth, grabbed the lead away from polesitter Russell, leading Isack Hadjar as Antonelli dropped from second to seventh. Arvid Lindblad jumped from ninth to fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who overtook the Racing Bulls and the Red Bull on his way to third.

Russell recovered and made his way past Leclerc on lap 2, on the run towards Turn 11. And yet it was not easy, as Leclerc enjoyed much better battery deployment on Lakeside Drive on the next lap and swept around the outside of the Mercedes in Turn 9.

On lap 8, as Max Verstappen made his way into the top ten from the back of the grid while Antonelli recovered to fourth, Russell kept pressuring Leclerc and outbraked him on the inside of Turn 3 – but Leclerc attacked by going around the outside with a move in Turn 9 as their energy management duel continued.

Russell hit back on the next lap in Turn 1 but had a big lock-up and could not stay ahead. By then, Hamilton and Antonelli had caught up with the leading duo.

Fifth-placed Hadjar retired with a technical issue on lap 12, causing the race to be neutralised by the virtual safety car. The incident promoted Lando Norris to sixth, with the defending world champion the leading frontrunner to pit straight away. Having started the race on hard tyres unlike most of the field on mediums, Verstappen stayed out and took sixth.

The Mercedes cars did pit on the following lap, switching to hard tyres, and rejoined in third and fifth, separated by Lindblad. Russell and Antonelli were respectively 12 seconds and 17 seconds down on race leader Leclerc. Now in second, Hamilton was unconvinced by Ferrari’s strategy: “At least one of us should have come in,” he suggested on the team radio.

Another retirement gave them the chance to do just that with another virtual safety car intervention, as Valtteri Bottas broke down on the inside of the last corner. Still, the Ferraris stayed out at the first time of asking, and the pitlane entry was subsequently closed. They were the only cars to stay out during both VSC sequences.

On lap 20, Russell’s gap to race leader Leclerc was down to eight seconds. The Mercedes was lapping 7.5 tenths faster than second-placed Hamilton on average.

Leclerc ended up pitting at the end of lap 25 and rejoined 16 seconds down on Russell, who started pressuring his former teammate on lap 27 and found a way back to the lead on the next lap. Hamilton pitted straight away and rejoined in fourth, with a 21-second gap on Russell, who now enjoyed a seven-second gap to Antonelli as his closest challenger.

The Mercedes driver was faster at that time and brought the gap down to five seconds in four laps – after which yet another virtual safety car intervention occurred due to debris from Sergio Perez on Lakeside Drive. The timing of the VSC was favourable to Russell, with Antonelli now six seconds down.

With ten laps remaining, the gaps were largely unchanged at the front. Russell led Antonelli by six seconds, Leclerc by 15 seconds and Hamilton by 19 seconds.

Mercedes therefore scored a comfortable 1-2 ahead of the Scuderia, with Russell victorious three seconds ahead of Antonelli. The race winner led Leclerc and Hamilton by 16 seconds.

The battle for fifth was contested between the champions Verstappen and Norris, with the McLaren driver coming out on top, but he was 52 seconds down on Russell.

Oliver Bearman prevailed in the midfield battle for Haas, leading Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly as the remaining points scorers.

Sergio Perez finished P16 and virtually last on Cadillac’s Grand Prix debut, two laps down.

Aston Martin’s well-documented Honda powertrain issues meant completing the whole race was impossible due to engine vibrations, so Fernando Alonso pitted at the end of lap 13, rejoined ten laps down and retired definitively later.

Lance Stroll drove over half the race consecutively – which exceeded expectations – and pitted at the same time as his teammate retired, rejoining the race 15 laps down but still taking the chequered flag.

So after an underwhelming qualifying with the cars super clipping plus lift and coast on their push lap, the new rules have definitely provided some entertaining track action in the race. The start and the battle between Leclerc and Russell was the highlight. So a positive start in the 2026-spec regulations.

Australian Grand Prix, race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:23:06.801
2 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +2.974s
3 Chalres Leclerc Ferrari +15.519s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +16.144s
5 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes +51.741s
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Ford +54.617s
7 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
8 Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
9 Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +1 lap
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Mercedes +1 lap
11 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
12 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes +1 lap
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Ford +1 lap
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Mercedes +2 lap
15 Carlos Sainz Williams-Mercedes +2 laps
16 Sergio Perez Cadillac-Ferrari +3 laps
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Honda +15 laps
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Honda DNF
Valterri Bottas Cadillac-Ferrari DNF
Isack Hadjar Red Bull-Ford DNF
Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes DNS
Nico Hulkenberg Audi DNS

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

Aston Martin becomes the eleventh and final team on the 2026 Formula 1 grid to present their livery for the upcoming new season.

As in tradition, the British Racing Green is on the AMR26 with the car powered by Honda. This is the first racing car to be led by Adrian Newey, who is also the new team principal.

The Silverstone squad has retained its British Racing Green colour scheme using a matte finish, at an event at the Ithra cultural centre in Dhahran, near Dammam.

In a powertrain partnership, the AMR26 carries Honda’s new logotype. Title sponsor Aramco, which has developed the team’s fuels for the new season, commands the majority of advertising space.

Under the supervision of Newey, who has assumed the team principal role at Aston Martin, the car ran for the first time across the final two days of the Barcelona shakedown.

The reveal of the AMR26, as it left the garage for the first time at the shakedown, gathered much interest – specifically with many of its aerodynamic solutions and placement of its suspension.

It also makes use of additional fins around the halo and the central air intake, plus inlets on the sidepods, which caught the attention when the car was first seen.

While the Newey-led design has proven to be intriguing, the team’s fortunes will also rely on the Honda powertrain as the famous car brand makes its full return, having officially departed Formula 1 after the 2021 season, but remained in place to develop and maintain the power units for the two Red Bull-owned teams through its HRC subsidiary.

While Honda’s Formula 1 project leader Tetsushi Kakuda had earlier stated that “the electrification side is progressing as planned,” he added that it was “not necessarily the case for the internal combustion engine”.

Hopefully the reliability of this Honda-powered car will be a non-issue and it will be fascinating how competitive this car will be considering it is designed by the legendary Adrian Newey.

The McLaren Formula 1 racing team has revealed their livery for the upcoming 2026 season with an increase sponsorship with Mastercard.

The drivers’ and constructors’ champions presented their MCL60 at the Bahrain International Circuit, which will be the track for the pre-season test.

There’s an increase in the papaya orange for the MCL60 as well as branding from the lead partner Mastercard.

The main sponsor has an increased presence after upgrading its deal with the team to a title sponsorship, McLaren’s first such deal since the Vodafone days over a decade ago.

New Formula 1 world champion Lando Norris will race in car number one and is out to defend his title this season. Oscar Piastri is determined to beat his teammate after missing out on the big prize last year.

“It’s fantastic to reveal the livery for our 2026 challenger, the MCL40, as we reach an important milestone in our team’s incredible work and dedication before we begin racing this year,” team principal Andrea Stella said.

“While we have the benefit of the lessons learned from our success in the past few years, the whole grid is restarting from zero and our past achievements count for nothing. Our objective is to hit the ground running, and we have the best combination of team, driver pairing, collaboration with Mercedes HPP, partners, and fans to be able to do this.”