#F1 #Qualifying: @GeorgeRussell63 storms to #AustralianGP pole, @Max33Verstappen crashes.

Russell Australian GP Pole – George Russell and Mercedes made a serious statement as they stormed to pole position in qualifying at the Australian GP in Formula 1’s new rules and regulations and ahead of team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli who had an eventful day after suffering a heavy crash in Free Practice 3 and just made it in time to compete in the qualifying session, however the Italian is currently under investigation by the stewards for a pit-lane infringement and his F1 W17 being released in an unsafe manner. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar took an impressive third on debut for the Milton Keynes based-squad and the team’s first race weekend with the Ford partnership. Reigning world champion Lando Norris ended up sixth and four-time world champion Max Verstappen’s session ended prematurely in Q1 after suffering a crash.

This was Russell’s eighth-career pole position with the Briton looking cool, calm and collected all weekend.

The story before the weekend was Mercedes and Ferrari were tagged the favourites after testing, and the Silver Arrows have more than lived up to that expectation. A front row lock-out for the Silver Arrows, and the F1 W17 is eight tenths ahead of its rivals.

In Q3, the session was red flagged nine minutes and 47 seconds in after Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s F1 W17 entry was released in an unsafe condition after some of the cooling fans were still on his car and flew off onto the track. The Italian was also currently under investigation for a pit-lane infringement.

Norris ran over the debris reporting: “Check, I hit a lot of debris – front left.”

After the debris was cleared and the session resumed, the initial flyers saw Antonelli lead the pack out and the Italian made an error locking up into turn three and aborting his flyer.

His team-mate Russell was up to set the first time, and the Briton then posted the benchmark of a 1:19.084 as Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar slotted into second to be 0.541 off the Mercedes driver.

Piastri ended up 1.238 seconds off as Leclerc split the pairing in fourth as Norris planted his McLaren second on a 1:19.605.

Hamilton ended up sixth with his 1:20.423 effort to end up 1.339 seconds adrift of former team-mate Russell’s provisional pole time.

The final hot-laps saw Antonelli with three personal bests reached provisional pole with a 1:18.811, but team-mate Russell was flying with three purples and hits provisional pole with a 1:18.518.

Home favourite Piastri with two personal bests put his McLaren third only briefly as Leclerc pinched third provisionally with his 1:19.327 as Hadjar snatched it off the Monegasque driver after setting a 1:19.303 to take third in his debut for Red Bull.

Norris could only manage sixth with his 1:19.605 effort of Hamilton who ended up seventh despite three personal bests.

Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson pipped team-mate Arvid Lindblad for eighth posting a 1:19.994 whilst Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto did not take part in Q3 due to a technical issue.

In the middle segment, which was topped by Russell, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was the quickest of the Q2 eliminatees and will start the season-opening Australian GP in 11^th and in-front of Haas’s duo Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon who were 12^th and 13^th respectively.

Alpine pairing Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were 14^th and 16^th as Williams’ Alexander Albon split the duo in 15^th.

Replays showed Bortoleto travelling very slowly into the pits and stopping on the pit entry line and almost saw Racing Bulls’ Lindblad almost crash into the Audi driver and also RB team-mate Lawson.

In the first qualifying stage, which was topped by Russell, the first red flag of the session was brought out with seven minutes and 29 seconds remaining after Verstappen was seen spinning and went straight into the barriers at turn one.

Replays saw the four-time world champion lock the rear brakes into turn one and the car lost the rear, spinning across the gravel and hit the barrier damaging the front wing of his RB22 racer.

After Verstappen’s RB22 entry was cleared and the session resumed, a late improvement from Colapinto up into 15^th eliminated Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso sending the double world champion out of Q1 meaning the Spaniard will start the Australian GP in 17^th.

Cadillac duo Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas followed in 18^th and 19^th respectively as the aforementioned Verstappen ended up 20^th and was unable to set a lap-time due to his shunt.

Both Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll did not register a lap-time due to their issues.

You can see the full Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2026/races/1279/australia/qualifying

2026 Australian GP Qualifying – The Top Three

2026 Australian GP Pole Position – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – 1:18.518:

“A great day. We knew there was a lot of potential in the car. Really happy to have Kimi here next to me as well, as the team did an amazing job in the garage today. I’m excited for the race tomorrow, I think we can bring some quite exciting racing [to the fans].”

2^nd Place – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, #12, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – 1:18.811:

“It has been a very, very stressful day. The mechanics today were the heroes. We couldn’t even set-up the car, we just went out. It was not easy; I needed to dig deep but I need a clean weekend next time as it did definitely compromise Qualifying.”

3^rd Place – Isack Hadjar, #6, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Ford-RBPT, RB22 – 1:19.303:

“It was a very smooth Qualifying. We kind of built up to it, and it was a very good last lap. I want to keep my position, as a second podium would be good.”

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