F1 Australian Grand Prix 2026 Recap

George Russell starts 2026 with a commanding win in Melbourne

George Russell converted his pole position into a dominant win in Melbourne as the Mercedes driver kicked off Formula One’s new era and the 2026 season with victory at the Australian Grand Prix. Russell’s teammate, Kimi Antonelli, finished second, recovering from a poor start to hand Mercedes a double podium, while Ferrari also finished on the podium through Charles Leclerc’s third-place finish. Reigning world champion Lando Norris could only manage fifth, while Max Verstappen put in another incredible charge through the field, finishing P6 after starting P20.

The new era also highlighted the reliability issues teams are going through, as five drivers did not see the chequered flag, including Australia’s very own Oscar Piastri, who couldn’t even start the race.

The action kicked off even before the lights went out as home hero Oscar Piastri crashed on the warm-up lap while coming out of Turn 4, ending the Australian’s race before it even started. When the lights eventually went out, the Formula One 2026 season got underway and it was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who stole the lead of the race from pole sitter George Russell, going from fourth to first in the opening corner as Ferrari continued to impress with their race starts.

The action was all over the grid as Leclerc’s teammate Hamilton made up places as well to move to third while Kimi Antonelli fell from second to eighth. Hamilton and Isack Hadjar were involved in a big scrap on the opening lap for third place as the new Red Bull driver kept the pressure on Hamilton, with rookie Arvid Lindblad behind the Ferrari and Red Bull in fifth as he kept reigning world champion Lando Norris at bay.

While Ferrari had the rocket race starts, it was Mercedes with the rocket engine as Russell retook the lead from Leclerc on the second lap. Leclerc hit back a lap later, going back into first position once again. Leclerc and Russell kept each other on their toes, pushing each other to every inch on the track as they exchanged the top spot.

By lap 10, Hamilton was within a second of the top two, trying his best to keep up with the leaders. The race saw its first Virtual Safety Car on lap 11 as Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull engine gave up, ending his race. Both Mercedes cars pitted while the two Ferraris stayed out, much to Hamilton’s dismay.

The retirements kept coming as Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas also retired a couple of laps later while Leclerc and Hamilton led the race. Ferrari eventually called in Leclerc on lap 25, which saw Hamilton move into the lead, but the seven-time world champion wasn’t able to keep the quicker Mercedes on fresher tyres behind him for too long as Russell breezed past him at Turn 9 on lap 28 to retake the lead of the race.

After losing the lead, Ferrari finally called Hamilton into the pits, with him rejoining in fourth place. While the Ferraris and Mercedes were fighting it out at the top, Max Verstappen, who started a woeful 20th, was up to fifth place by lap 32 as the Dutch four-time world champion showed impressive pace and racecraft in his Red Bull and was ahead of the only McLaren running, that of Lando Norris.

As the race entered its final 20 laps, Russell led from Antonelli with the two Ferraris behind them as Leclerc tried to keep up with the two Silver Arrows ahead of him, setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Verstappen came in for his second stop on lap 43 as Red Bull put him on fresher tyres. As soon as he was back on track, he set the fastest lap of the race and was right behind Norris, trying to retake that fifth spot.

With ten laps to go, Russell was almost six seconds clear of his teammate at the front while Hamilton had caught up to Leclerc. The final couple of laps didn’t see many overtakes as Hamilton was the closest to making up a place, but Leclerc hung on by the skin of his teeth, finishing just 0.6 seconds ahead of his teammate as the chequered flag fell.

Up front, Russell was unbothered, picking up a comfortable win with Antonelli recovering from a poor start to make it a Mercedes 1-2. Leclerc finished third, giving Ferrari a podium at the start of the season, with Hamilton, Norris, Verstappen, Oliver Bearman, Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly rounding out the points.

Russell’s win sees him take the early advantage in the championship standings, while Mercedes’ double podium puts them at the top of the constructors’ standings as well. Ferrari’s third- and fourth-place finish keeps them in touch with the Silver Arrows. The action has kicked off in Melbourne and will continue as the grid moves to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend.