Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit 2026

STARTING GRID: 1) RUSSELL 2) ANTONELLI 3) HADJAR 4) LECLERC 5) PIASTRI 6) NORRIS 7) HAMILTON 8) LAWSON 9) LINDBLAD 10) BORTOLETO 11) HULKENBERG 12) BEARMAN 13) OCON 14) GASLY 15) ALBON 16) COLAPINTO 17) ALONSO 18) PEREZ 19) BOTTAS 20) VERSTAPPEN 21) SAINZ 22) STROLL 

FORMATION LAP: A nightmare start to the season for Oscar Piastri as he went into the wall on the formation lap. As he came out of turn 4 the car spun and went into the wall, marking the end of his race before it even began. The bad luck at his home circuit continued for Piastri with the race win cruelly taken away from him in the last few laps of the race. Now he was unable to start the race after out qualifying his team mate and McLaren was left with 1 car to run. 

LAP 1: Into the first corner, a slow start for the front 2 as Ferrari took full advantage with Charles Leclerc taking the lead. Isaac Hadjar stayed in 3rd after a good start and behind him was the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton but he had 3 cars in close pursuit of him. 

The rookie Arvid Lindblad had a perfect start and was able to make up 5 places to 4th within the first 5 corners. A less than ideal start for Kimi Antonelli as he slipped down to 7th from the front row with the Mercedes drivers looking slow off the blocks. 

Towards the end of the lap the action continued with Lindblad briefly up to 3rd but the battle continued as Hamilton took the places just a few corners later. A 5 car battle for 3rd with Hamilton, Lindblad, Hadjar, Norris and Antonelli as fighting for places in that order!

LAP 2: On the pit straight, Isaac Hadjar made an easy looking pass on Lindblad as he looked to close in on Hamilton. A great battle on the first lap and a dream start for the rookie on his debut lap and race.

George Russell was hot on the heels of the Ferrari out front for most of the lap. He deployed the power between turns 10 and 11 and was quickly past Leclerc to retake the lead of the race. 

LAP 3: Similar to the previous lap, Charles Leclerc chose the perfect time and opportunity to deploy his power in the run up to turn 9. He swept round the outside of George Russell and took the lead once again. A great battle out front between Ferrari and Mercedes. 

LAP 8: The battle for 1st continued between Russell and Leclerc! This time Russell used the extra power on the way down to turn 3. He used the brakes late going into the corner to get up the inside of the Ferrari. They were side by side into the corner with Leclerc having to back out and yield to the move from Russell as the Mercedes took the lead once again. 

However, Leclerc made a replica move to previous as he flew round the outside of Russell into turns 9 and 10 again. A to and fro battle between the 2 continued as they gave the fans a fantastic action packed start to the season. 

LAP 9: With Russell and Leclerc having a continued battle at the top, Lewis Hamilton was quickly entering the battle at the start of lap 9. Russell tried to go up the inside of turn 1 and locked up to get past which compromised his exit. Leclerc was quickly able to make it back past and there was Hamilton just 0.2 seconds away from the leaders but he was not able to keep the pace and dropped back over the course of the next few laps. 

LAP 11: It was bad news for Red Bull and Isaac Hadjar as a problem with the car forced him to pull over at the side of the track and retire from the race. Not the start to the season and Red Bull career that Hadjar would have wanted. That will have also been a concern for the new Red Bull power units as the first race has ended in a problem for one of their drivers and they could not finish the race. 

LAP 13: A virtual safety car was capitalised on by Mercedes who double stacked their cars and kept good position in 3rd and 5th. The Ferrari cars were kept out on track to the dislike of Lewis Hamilton as he said “at least one of us should have come in”. Voicing his frustration at the decision as it could affect them later in the race. 

LAP 15: The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso became the 4th car to retire from the race with well known issues documented before the season had started with the car. The vibrations and general running of the car proved too much as it only lasted 15 laps into the new season. 

LAP 18: Replays showed a battle between Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez and they came close to contact and may have even made brief contact as they battled for position. No love lost between the former Red Bull drivers. 

The other Cadillac in Valtteri Bottas was stopped on the grass next to the pit entry with another retirement at the start of the season. This time the newest team in Cadillac had to retire one of their cars in their first race. Not the start that they would have wanted and not the return to the sport that Bottas would have wanted either. 

LAP 20: A great race for Max Verstappen as he moved round the outside of Lindblad between turn 8 and 9 as many others have. He made the overtake easily and moved up to 6th from 20th in just 20 laps. It would not have been where Verstappen would have wanted to start the first race of the season but a terrific fight back from the four time World Champion. 

LAP 21: Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were under investigation for an incident after a move into turn 3 from Gasly was late into the corner. Contact between the pair was minimal but it did seem that Gasly took the position unfairly. The stewards decided to take a look at it. 

LAP 28: The now race leader Lewis Hamilton was under tremendous pressure by his former team mate George Russell. The Mercedes made a move up the inside of Hamilton int turn 9 with Hamilton unable to defend. Russell once again took the lead of the race as the Ferrari’s seemed to be on the back foot at this stage. 

LAP 39: A battle for the final points places was closely contested between Gasly, Bortoleto and Ocon. The Audi of Bortoleto moved past the Haas of Ocon on the pit straight of lap 39 and he moved into the final points place. However, he was now only 0.3 seconds away from Gasly in 9th. 

LAP 40: Another move on the pit straight, this time for 7th place with Bearman making it past Lindblad after a close call towards the end of the straight. The Brits kept the racing clean and in order with their Grand Prix’s on both minds to keep their cars on track. 

They kept the good racing going between the two in the next few corners and a battle that entertained the fans. The battery power deployment seemed to be key in previous battles throughout the race and continued to be a skill for drivers to find the best place to deploy as was seen in this battle with Bearman through to 7th. 

The battle for the points places continued to change as Bortoleto moved past Gasly into 9th on the pit straight. A strong performance in the opening race for Audi with a 9th place finish now on the cards. 

LAP 58: A pre race and pre season favourite in George Russell and Mercedes won the opening race of the season by nearly 3 seconds! His team mate Kimi Antonelli finished in 2nd over 12 seconds ahead of the Ferrari’s in a perfect start to the season for Mercedes. 

The Ferrari’s would have been pleased to be 3rd and 4th but also would have been disappointed as they were in the top 2 for a large portion of the race. Charles Leclerc only just finished ahead of Hamilton with just 0.6 seconds separating them at the end of the race. 

A steady race for the reigning World Champion in 5th for Lando Norris being the only McLaren car which will be a disappointing start for the Constructors Champions too. Driver of the day went to Max Verstappen for his standout comeback performance from 20th to 6th to pick up the only points for Red Bull. 

A strong start to the season for Ollie Bearman with a 7th place finish for Haas. As well as a debut 8th place and points finish for Arvid Lindblad as he scored 4 points in his first Formula 1 race which he would have been thrilled with. 

The closely contested battle for the last 2 points places went to Gabriel Bortoleto and Audi on their racing debut in Formula 1 in 9th. The final points place went to Pierre Gasly and Alpine as he edged out his previous team mate Esteban Ocon. 

RACE RESULT: 1) RUSSELL 2) ANTONELLI 3) LECLERC 4) HAMILTON 5) NORRIS 6) VERSTAPPEN 7) BEARMAN 8) LINDBLAD 9) BORTOLETO 10) GASLY 11) OCON 12) ALBON 13) LAWSON 14) COLAPINTO 15) SAINZ 16) PEREZ 17) STROLL 18) ALONSO (DNF) 19) BOTTAS (DNF) 20) HADJAR (DNF) 21) PIASTRI (DNS) 22) HULKENBERG (DNS)