George Russell wins 2026 Australian Grand Prix as Mercedes opens new F1 era with Melbourne one-two

Russell takes victory as the new era begins

George Russell won the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 at Melbourne's Albert Park Circuit on 8 March, leading a Mercedes one-two that opened Formula 1's new technical era. According to the official race result published by formula1.com, Russell covered the 58 laps in 1:23:06.801, with team-mate Kimi Antonelli 2.974 seconds behind and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third at 15.519 seconds, ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fourth. Formula 1 described Antonelli as preparing for his second season before the 2026 campaign. ¹⁸¹¹

AS.com reported that Russell controlled the race in Melbourne once the opening phase settled, with Antonelli sealing a powerful start to the season for Mercedes under the sport's new regulations. The same account placed Lando Norris fifth for McLaren ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull, with Oliver Bearman seventh for Haas, Arvid Lindblad eighth for Racing Bulls, Gabriel Bortoleto ninth for Audi and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top ten for Alpine. ⁹

Qualifying: Mercedes locks out the front row

The official qualifying classification at Albert Park showed Russell on pole position with a 1:18.518 in Q3, ahead of Antonelli on 1:18.811 and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar third on 1:19.303. Charles Leclerc qualified fourth, with home hero Oscar Piastri fifth on 1:19.380 and reigning champion Lando Norris sixth for McLaren. Lewis Hamilton was seventh, with Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad eighth and ninth for Racing Bulls and Gabriel Bortoleto tenth for Audi, per the formula1.com classification. ²

The published starting grid carried a significant note: Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll were all given permission to start after failing to set a lap time within 107 per cent of the fastest Q1 time in qualifying. That placed Verstappen at the back of the field in 20th, with Sainz 21st and Stroll 22nd, according to the formula1.com starting grid record. Crash.net reported that Verstappen had crashed in qualifying before recovering to sixth in the race. ³⁶

A Virtual Safety Car swings the race Mercedes' way

Silverstone's race coverage described an early duel in which Russell lost the lead to Leclerc at the start, reclaimed it with a move into Turn 11 on lap 2, then lost it again on the following lap. A Virtual Safety Car on lap 12 triggered Russell's first stop for Hard tyres, and by lap 28 he had caught Lewis Hamilton, who had inherited the lead during the pit sequence. Russell passed Hamilton that lap and managed the final stint to take the first win of the 2026 season, per Silverstone's report. ¹⁰

The same Silverstone report noted a mixed reaction to Formula 1's new technical era: while the opening half of the race produced plenty of overtaking, several drivers described the driving as artificial, with the energy deployment systems playing a decisive role in the action. McLaren's own account offered a counterpoint on this theme, with Lando Norris saying pre-race expectations of energy use dominating overtaking had not stopped him working back through the field with a more traditional tyre delta. ¹⁰⁴

RacingNews365 characterised the race as chaotic and attritional, arguing that Ferrari's strategy of not pitting under two virtual safety cars gifted Mercedes a key advantage. RacingNews365 also noted that Audi scored points on its Formula 1 debut through Gabriel Bortoleto, who took ninth. ⁷

The midfield classification saw Bearman take seventh for Haas one lap down, ahead of rookie Lindblad, Bortoleto and Gasly, with Esteban Ocon 11th and Alex Albon 12th, per the official result. At the back, Sainz finished 15th two laps down, Sergio Perez was 16th for Cadillac, Stroll was non-classified after completing 43 laps, and Fernando Alonso (lap 21), Valtteri Bottas (lap 15) and Isack Hadjar (lap 10) retired, while Oscar Piastri and Nico Hulkenberg did not start. ¹⁹

Piastri's home race ends before the lights out

McLaren's own race report confirmed that Oscar Piastri was unable to start his home Grand Prix after crashing on his first reconnaissance laps to the grid. Team principal Andrea Stella attributed the spin at Turn 4 to a combination of suboptimal tyre temperature, unexpected torque deployment and being up on the kerb, describing it as a tough moment for Piastri at his home race. Piastri's own statement, published by McLaren, cited cold tyres, the kerb and more power than in qualifying as factors in the spin. ⁴

The result meant the local favourite, who had qualified fifth, took no points from the opener. McLaren's report also detailed Lando Norris's race: he started sixth, pitted on lap 11 under the early Virtual Safety Car to undercut Arvid Lindblad, made a second stop on lap 34, and held off a charging Verstappen in the closing stages to secure fifth, with Norris's fastest lap of 1:22.358 on lap 53 second-quickest. Stella acknowledged a significant gap to Mercedes and Ferrari and said the team needed to find performance through the power unit and cornering grip. ⁴²

Verstappen's recovery and the early championship picture

Max Verstappen charged from 20th on the grid to sixth, finishing 54.617 seconds behind the winner, according to the official race result. Crash.net reported that Norris held off Verstappen's Red Bull in the closing laps, with Verstappen crossing the line almost a minute behind the leader. ¹⁶

Post-race standings published by Crash.net and by Athlon Sports, republished by Yardbarker, show the positions after the opening round: Russell led the drivers' championship on 25 points, ahead of Antonelli on 18, Leclerc on 15, Hamilton on 12 and Norris on 10. In the constructors' standings, Mercedes topped the table on 43 points, with Ferrari second on 27, McLaren third on 10 and Red Bull fourth on 8. ⁵⁶

Bearman's seventh placed Haas fifth on 6 points, with Racing Bulls sixth on 4, Audi seventh on 2 and Alpine eighth on 1, while Williams, Cadillac and Aston Martin were yet to score, per Crash.net's post-race standings. No Sprint was held at Albert Park; formula1.com's event schedule for the weekend listed three practice sessions, Saturday qualifying and the Sunday race. ⁶⁸