For the first time in 2026, It's Lights out and away we Go!
The wait is finally over as Formula 1 returned to action with the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne. The 11 teams arrived after months of preparation and testing. Let's Breakdown The First Race Of The Season!
History
The Australian Grand Prix came into F1 calenders in 1985, where it was first held at the Adelaide Street Circuit and won by Keke Rosberg. After that, it joined Melbourne in 1996 where Damon Hill won it and has since been on the calender with Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris winning the race over the years.
Curse of Home Race
One of the most unusual records in Australian Grand Prix History is that no Australian Driver has ever won their home race since it joined Formula 1 World Championship. Over the years several drivers have come close to winning it but the victory was always on Overtake Mode, or DRS.
- Mark Webber, came close to winning his home race in australia but never managed to win despite driving competitive cars.
- Daniel Ricciardo, did finish second on the podium in 2014 but was disqualified after the race due to a fuel-flow breach.
- Oscar Piastri, the current aussie on the grid has had some strong performances but has never came close to winning a home race yet.
Free Practice Sessions
The Australian Grand Prix featured FP1, FP2, FP3 and qualifying before the big race, let's breakdown every result of the FP sessions:
FP1
FP2
FP3
P1
Charles Leclerc
Oscar Piastri
George Russell
P2
Lewis Hamilton
Kimi Antonelli
Lewis Hamilton
P3
Max Verstappen
George Russell
Charles Leclerc
Drivers from Mercedes and Ferrari topped Free Practice Sessions with Oscar Piastri coming at top in FP2 and Max Verstappen coming at third in FP1.
Qualifying
The qualifying at Australia went super exciting and unexpected as there were some unpredictable knockouts, let's dive deeper into that.
Position | Driver | Team |
1. | George Russell | Mercedes |
2. | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes |
3. | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing |
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 Racing |
21. | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams |
22. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
- Mercedes lineup 1-2 at the First Race of the year.
- Max Verstappen starts the Australian GP from P20 after retiring from qualifying after a spin into the gravel.
- Carlos Sainz Jr. starts from P21 after reporting issues with the car on the team radio in FP3 too.
- Isack Hadjar secures Career best Quali after securing P3 in qualifying.
Australian Grand Prix
Position | Driver | Team | Lap Time | Points |
1. | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:23:06.801 | 25 |
2. | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +2.974s | 18 |
3. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +15.519s | 15 |
4. | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +16.143s | 1 |
5. | Lando Norris | McLaren | +51.741s | 10 |
6. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +54.617s | 8 |
7. | Oliver Bearman | Haas | +1 Lap | 6 |
8. | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | +1 Lap | 4 |
9. | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +1 Lap | 2 |
10. | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +1 Lap | 1 |
11. | Esteban Ocon | Haas | +1 Lap | 0 |
12. | Alex Albon | Williams | +1 Lap | 0 |
13. | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1 Lap | 0 |
14. | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +2 Laps | 0 |
15. | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams | +2 Laps | 0 |
16. | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | +3 Laps | 0 |
17. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +15 Laps | 0 |
18. | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | DNF | 0 |
19. | Valetteri Bottas | Cadillac | DNF | 0 |
20. | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | DNF | 0 |
-- | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | DNS | 0 |
-- | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | DNS | 0 |
- George Russell won the first race of the season, securing 25 points!
- Charles Leclerc who came P3 was behind both the mercedes cars by a wide margin of 15.519s.
- Oscar Piastri faced a heartbreaking crash at his home race and retired in just Lap 1.
- Max Verstappen gained 14 positions after starting from P20 to P6.
- The rookie, Arvid Lindblad bagged 4 points on his F1 debut race!
- Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto also scored 2 points on the team's debut race.
Constructors
Position | Team | Points |
1. | MERCEDES | 43 |
2. | FERRARI | 27 |
3. | MCLAREN | 10 |
4. | RED BULL RACING | 8 |
5. | HAAS | 6 |
6. | RACING BULLS | 4 |
7. | AUDI | 2 |
8. | ALPINE | 1 |
9. | WILLIAMS | NIL |
10. | CADILLAC | NIL |
11. | ASTON MARTIN | NIL |
Conclusion
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, both the Mercedes Drivers were on top the whole weekend. Along with the Ferrari drivers who also showed the true performance of their car. It was a very unpredictable weekend but we got to see the new regulation cars in action and how they are expected to perform this season. We also got a brief understanding on which teams and drivers are suspected to be Championship contenders and which ones will play in the midfield as well as the bottom field.
Summing up, the season opener rarely disappoints and we all got a glimpse of how exciting this season will be and how close battles this season will have. This is just the starting, 23 rounds left and a lot is yet to happen.