@GeorgeRussell63 takes victory in a @MercedesAMGF1 one-two at #AustralianGP.

Russell Australian GP Victory – George Russell lead team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli to lead home a Mercedes one-two as Ferrari opted not to pit under the Virtual Safety Car. Charles Leclerc completed the top three for the Scuderia.

 

 

This was Russell’s sixth-career victory kickstarting a solid start for the Silver Arrows in Formula 1’s new era.

 

On the sighting lap to the grid, home favourite Oscar Piastri took a tiny but too much kerb, which spun his McLaren MCL40 racer into the barriers. The Melbourne-native wasn’t even pushing that hard.

 

Piastri did a short up-shift out of the turn four left-hander and on the turn four exit rumble strip experienced a hit of power from the hybrid system and the McLaren lost the rear, hit the wall and destroyed the front-right of the car.

 

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg also encountered an issue on the way to the grid with his R26 entry and in-turn could not start the Australian Grand Prix.

 

When the 58-lap Australian GP began, pole-sitter Russell got an average start as Leclerc jumped on the inside of the Mercedes into turn one to take the lead as Hadjar remained in third and Antonelli suffered a battery issue and fell to seventh.

 

On the beginning of the first tour, Leclerc lead by 0.7 seconds over Russell with Hamilton up into third passing Hadjar, Lindblad fifth, Norris sixth, Antonelli seventh, Ocon eighth, Gasly ninth as Alonso completed the top ten.

 

In the fight for the lead Russell had a look around the Ferrari from the outside of turn 10 but made his way past the Ferrari into turn 11 to reclaim P1.

 

Leclerc had a look on Russell into turn one, then the latter covered the former to hold turn one.

 

Later in lap three, Leclerc swept around the outside of the Mercedes to snatch first place into the fast turn nine and ten corners.

 

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was under investigation by the race stewards for a starting infringement.

 

Lap five saw Leclerc’s lead at 0.7 seconds with Hamilton holding third, Hadjar fourth, Antonelli up into fifth after overtaking Lindblad on the rundown to turn one, Norris seventh, Ocon eighth, Gasly ninth as Bortoleto rounded out the top ten runners.

 

Alonso’s stay in the top 10 did not last long, the Spaniard had dropped to 14^th.

 

Verstappen was up to 12th.

 

On the sixth lap, Russell had a look once more on Leclerc in the fight for first place, but the Ferrari managed to keep the Silver Arrow at bay.

 

On the eighth tour, Russell overtook Leclerc once more on the rundown to the turn three right-hander after diving up the inside of the Ferrari.

 

A few corners later, Leclerc swept around the inside of turn nine to snatch P1 back.

 

On the beginning of lap nine, Russell made a dive up the inside of turn one suffering a massive lock-up, compromising his turn and allowing Leclerc to hold onto first place and brought Hamilton into the battle for the lead.

 

Into turn three, Leclerc covered both Russell and Hamilton to remain in the lead.

 

On lap 10, Leclerc’s lead over Russell was at 0.8 seconds with Hamilton third, Antonelli up into fourth after passing Hadjar, Lindblad sixth, Norris seventh, Ocon eighth, Verstappen into ninth as Gasly completed the top ten.

 

Alpine’s Colapinto was hit with a stop and go penalty for his starting infringement.

 

Smoke was seen flowing from Hadjar’s Red Bull as the Frenchman parked his car at Lakeside Drive becoming the third retiree after the race.

 

The Virtual Safety Car was deployed as Norris, Ocon, Gasly, Sainz, Lawson all pitted.

 

Both Mercedes of Russell and Antonelli then pitted for a set of the harder compounds and emerged in third and fifth respectively.

 

Hamilton reported: “One of us should have come in!”

 

The order under the VSC was Leclerc leading from Hamilton, Russell and Lindblad. Antonelli drops to fifth, ahead of Verstappen, Bearman, Bortoleto, Norris and Ocon.

 

After Hadjar’s RB22 was cleared and VSC ended, both Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Hamilton charged on out-front with the Merces on fresher harder tyres.

 

Alonso was called in to retire the car making him the fourth casualty of the race.

 

On the 16^th tour, Leclerc’s lead over team-mate Hamilton was at 1.7 seconds, Russell ten seconds behind the Ferrari’s, Antonelli moved up into fourth overtaking Lindblad, Verstappen on the harder compound was up into sixth, Bearman seventh, Bortoleto eighth, Norris ninth as Ocon rounded out the top ten.

 

Hamilton and his new Race Engineer were exchanging words. It sounded like Ferrari were remaining on their original one-stop strategy, whilst they suspect Russell and the like will now be on a two-stopper.

 

The 17^th lap – Most bolted on the harder tyre in those pit stops – but can that compound make it to the end? Verstappen started on the hards, and his front-left looked very heavily grained.

 

Fuel loads will lesson of course during the course of proceedings.

 

Russell began to claw back some time on the Ferrari duo ahead.

 

On the 18^th lap, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas was seen parked on the grass at the penultimate corner near the pit-entry line bringing out the second VSC.

 

Lindblad, Verstappen, Bearman and Bortoleto all dived in for a stop.

 

Lindblad got back out ahead of Verstappen, who almost power slid out of his box to ensure he remained ahead of Bearman.

 

When the race resumed on the 20^th lap, Verstappen swept around the outside of Lindblad into turn nine to take sixth place. Russell was only 6.7 seconds behind the two Ferrari’s and closing in.

 

The 21^st tour – Russell was the man who was really on the charge, setting purple sectors in third and getting ever closer.

 

The situation on lap 22 – Leclerc lead from Hamilton, both on their original medium compounds. Russell, Antonelli and Norris behind are all on hards having pitted under one of the two VSC periods we have had.

 

Everyone had pitted bar the Ferrari duo, with Verstappen the only man to have pitted for mediums having started on the hards.

 

Lap 23 – Hamilton had radioed to say his tyres were good, so do not box him behind Leclerc. Right. Without a VSC, it was unlikely Ferrari would double stack.

 

Leclerc held a 1.6 second advantage over his team-mate, whilst Russell now just 3.8 seconds back.

 

The turn three incident involving Perez and Lawson was currently under investigation by the race stewards.

 

Lap 24 – There has been some tasty battles further back, including between two former Red Bull drivers in Lawson and Perez.

 

Gasly and Ocon have also had some intense moments, no love lost today between those former team-mates.

 

Gasly has hold of the final point at the moment of proceedings.

 

 

On Lap 26 – Leclerc pitted from the lead for a fresh set of the harder rubber and came out down in fourth behind Antonelli.

 

Hamilton led now from Russell and Antonelli.

 

Meanwhile, Alonso had rejoined the race for Aston Martin.

 

Lap 27 – Hamilton was just one second in-front of Russell. Is he being left out there to hold the Mercedes up, buying his team-mate time was the question? His front tyres were graining heavily, but he would have a tyre offset against Leclerc. Especially if he could stay out a few more tours, as painful as it could be.

 

Lap 29 saw Russell with Overtake Mode make a move around the outside of Hamilton at turn nine to reclaim the lead and the latter dived into the pits immediately to put on a set of the harder rubber.

 

Hamilton emerged in fourth place behind team-mate Leclerc.

 

Race leader Russell told his team: “The one-stop is viable,”.

 

The 30^th tour, Russell was leading at 6.7 seconds over team-mate Antonelli with Leclerc third Hamilton fourth, Norris fifth, Verstappen sixth, Lindblad seventh, Bearman eighth, Bortoleto ninth whilst Gasly rounded out the top ten.

 

The 32^nd lap – Russell was 14.2 seconds in-front of Leclerc, so he did not have a pit stop window here, but he was not far away from having a VSC window.

 

The man who was on the move was Verstappen; The Dutchman was chasing down last year’s rival Norris for fifth place.

 

Lap 33 – Russell was trying to build a gap, but he was lapping half a second slower than Leclerc and that was not helping his cause. Hamilton was not keeping pace with his team-mate either, Leclerc very much the man on the move at this stage of proceedings.

 

Antonelli was told they are thinking of going to the end. “That is going to be brave,” the Italian explained.

 

Lap 34 – “Could you do 26 laps on a medium?” Norris was asked. “No, because I destroyed a set after 10 laps,” he responded.

 

Another VSC was brought out briefly as parts of Perez’s Cadillac blew off. It was all but brief as some very quick marshals running out to pick up the bargeboard pieces from the Mexican’s MAC-01 entry.

 

The 35^th lap – Verstappen was crawling all over the back of Norris and… McLaren called their man in. A two-stop for the reigning world champion, as he bolted on some more medium tyres.

 

He came out in eighth, behind Bearman.

 

Lap 36 – No one else in the top 10 reacted to Norris’ stop. It has yet to be seen this year if the undercut or overcut will be powerful.

 

Verstappen in fifth was on a different strategy, having started on the hards whilst the Ferraris were attempting to one-stop, whilst it is uncertain what Mercedes were doing bar pushing on as far as they can go.

 

With 20 laps remaining, Russell’s advantage over team-mate Antonelli was at 6.5 seconds with Leclerc a further 9.7 seconds adrift in third, Hamilton fourth, Verstappen fifth, Lindblad sixth, Norris seventh, Bearman eighth Gasly ninth as Ocon rounded out the top ten.

 

With Overtake and Straight Move on the main-straight Norris made a move on the inside of Lindblad into turn one to take sixth place from the Racing Bulls debutant.

 

Further back, Bortoleto made his way in-front of Ocon to jump back into the points paying positions.

 

On the 41^st tour – Up-front, Russell remained 6.7 seconds ahead of his team-mate Antonelli. Leclerc was still 16.2 seconds off the lead but somehow had to pressure Mercedes into using up those tyres if they could.

 

Further back, the Bearman Lindblad British battle was all sorts of brilliant, the duo switching and swapping as they use and recharge their batteries.

 

On lap 42, Verstappen pitted for a fresh set of the harder rubber and emerged in sixth place behind Norris.

 

The 43^rd tour – Verstappen had lost position to Norris, but on eight lap fresher tyres, should be able to fight his way back to the McLaren driver. Those two were fighting for fifth today, the Ferraris and Mercedes cars just too fast at Albert Park.

 

Lap 44 – Leclerc was trying to make in-roads, but he could not get close enough to either Antonelli or Russell to force Mercedes into a late pit stop.

 

Leclerc was 16 seconds off the lead, Hamilton 20.6 seconds adrift.

 

The 45^th lap – The word over the radio to Russell was: “To the end.” His harder tyres were 33 laps old.

 

Russell had previously in the past, could whisper his tyres into remarkable things – and it looked like he had Antonelli for company as the Silver Arrows attempted to grab a 1-2 in the season-opener.

 

Lap 46 – The situation with Leclerc, behind him, Hamilton was only four seconds behind his team-mate here in what now looks like the battle for the final podium place.

 

Behind them, Verstappen was just one second behind Norris in the fight for fifth place.

 

Lap 47 – Norris was being encouraged on by his Race Engineer. The Briton gave nothing but crickets.

 

With ten laps remaining Russell was six seconds in-front of team-mate Antonelli with Leclerc and Hamilton third and fourth, Norris fifth, Verstappen sixth, Bearman seventh, Lindblad eighth, Bortoleto ninth as Gasly rounded out the top 10.

 

The 49^th tour – If Mercedes could this one-stop strategy work, it will be very impressive from both drivers. Russell’s tyres were 37 laps old, the same age as Antonelli’s. There was 5.9 seconds between the two Mercedes drivers at this stage of proceedings, as Leclerc continued to languish a further 10 seconds down the road.

 

The 52^nd lap – The win looked like to have sailed for Ferrari, but Hamilton could smell a podium. He was now 2.7 seconds behind team-mate in the battle for third, on tyres that were three laps fresher.

 

“Keep pushing, doing well,” Hamilton was told.

 

“Leave me to it mate, thanks,” the seven-time world champion replied.

 

The 54^th lap – Somehow, Norris remained in-front of Verstappen in the battle for fifth place.

 

The gap between the pairing was over a second, so Verstappen did not have Overtake Mode to assist his cause.

 

Lap 55 – Russell was lapping in the 1:22’s bracket, Leclerc was in the 1:23’s last time around.

 

Hamilton was the man on the move, but he was still two seconds adrift of his team-mate and running out of time to make an overtake on Leclerc.

 

The 56^th tour – The front four were steady, but further back, Bortoleto was crawling all over the back of Lindblad in the fight for eighth place. He had Overtake Mode too.

 

Ocon was also within a second of Gasly in the fight for the final points paying position.

 

Russell crossed the line to take his sixth-career victory ahead of team-mate Antonelli to lead home a Mercedes one-two as Leclerc completed the top three for Ferrari.

 

Hamilton followed in fourth in the other SF-26 entry and in-front of fellow world champions Norris and Verstappen who were fifth and sixth respectively.

 

Bearman came home seventh for Haas and ahead of Lindblad who took an impressive eighth for Racing Bulls on debut.

 

Audi’s Bortoleto finished the Australian GP in ninth for the re-branded outfit as Alpine’s Gasly rounded out the top ten runners.

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2026 Australian GP – The Top Three

 

 

2026 Australian GP Winner – George Russell, #63, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – (25 Points):

“It was a hell of a fight at the beginning! I made a bad start, and some really tight battles with Charles at the start – just really glad to cross the finish line.”

 

2^nd Place – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, #12, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W17 – +2.974s – (18 Points):

“Was not the best start we could have wished for, lost a lot of places and I had to recover. But overall was a good race, the pace was really strong especially at the end. It was really good fun at the beginning!”

 

3^rd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari HP, SF-26 – 15.519s – (15 Points):

“It was a very, very tricky race. None of us knew what to expect. It has been quite challenging; it was a fun first part of the race. It looked like Mercedes had a bit more pace than us today, but not as much as yesterday so that is a good thing.”

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Formula 1 Qatar Airways Australian Grand Prix 2026 Race Results Classification (58 Laps)

 

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	58	1:23:06.801	25
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	58	+2.974s	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	58	+15.519s	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	58	+16.144s	12
5	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	58	+51.741s	10
6	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	58	+54.617s	8
7	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	57	+1 lap	6
8	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	57	+1 lap	4
9	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	57	+1 lap	2
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	57	+1 lap	1
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	57	+1 lap	0
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	57	+1 lap	0
13	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	57	+1 lap	0
14	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	56	+2 laps	0
15	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	56	+2 laps	0
16	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	55	+3 laps	0
NC	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	43	+15 laps	0
NC	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	21	DNF	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	15	DNF	0
NC	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	10	DNF	0
NC	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	0	DNS	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	0	DNS	0

 

* Provisional results.

 

FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2026 – RACE RESULT

 

Click here for the 2026 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round 2 of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship heads straight to the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China for the Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2026 from Friday March 13-Sunday March 15.