George Russell won the 2026 season opener, the Australian GP in Melbourne on 8 March, from pole, covering the 58 laps in 1:23:06.801. Kimi Antonelli took second, +2.974s behind, for a Mercedes 1-2, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton third and fourth. In the first race under the new rules, the decisive call was the pit stop under the early Virtual Safety Car (VSC).
The strategy call under the VSC
Leclerc started fourth and led into Turn 1, formula1.com reported; Russell passed him on lap 2 and Leclerc took the lead back with Overtake mode a lap later. On lap 11 smoke from Isack Hadjar's Red Bull sent him onto the grass and brought out the VSC. Both Mercedes pitted; the Ferraris stayed out. Valtteri Bottas then stopped on the grass near the pit entry, triggering a second VSC, and PlanetF1 wrote that the Race Director closed the pit lane. Leclerc pitted on lap 26 for hards and Hamilton was the last to stop. After the first VSC Hamilton radioed: "At least one of us should have come in."
Russell said he saw his battery level had nothing in the tank on the grid and made a bad start. Antonelli was about three seconds behind on the final lap, and had crashed in third practice.
Top ten
| Pos | Driver (team) | Grid | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russell (Mercedes) | 1 | 1:23:06.801 |
| 2 | Antonelli (Mercedes) | 2 | +2.974 |
| 3 | Leclerc (Ferrari) | 4 | +15.519 |
| 4 | Hamilton (Ferrari) | 7 | +16.144 |
| 5 | Lando Norris (McLaren) | 6 | +51.741 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen (Red Bull) | 20 | +54.617 |
| 7 | Oliver Bearman (Haas) | 12 | +1 lap |
| 8 | Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) | 9 | +1 lap |
| 9 | Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) | 10 | +1 lap |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly (Alpine) | 14 | +1 lap |
Verstappen spun into the barriers in Q1, started 20th and climbed to sixth, the only Red Bull to finish after Hadjar retired. Lapchive lists the race fastest lap as Verstappen's 1:22.091 on lap 43. Lindblad scored points on his debut with eighth.
Non-starters and stewards' decisions
Oscar Piastri clipped the kerb at Turn 4 on his out-lap to the grid, spun and damaged his McLaren, and did not start. Nico Hülkenberg's Audi was wheeled from the grid into the garage with a technical issue, and Audi confirmed he would not start. Fernando Alonso, Hadjar and Bottas also retired. There was no Safety Car, but three VSC periods (laps 12-14, 18-20 and 34).
Sanctions were light. Mercedes was fined 7,500 euros because Antonelli's car left the garage with a fan still attached and was released in an unsafe condition; his position was unaffected. Franco Colapinto received a stop-and-go because a team member touched his car after the fifteen-second signal on the grid. The Pérez-Lawson incident drew no further action.
On these results the championship opens with Russell on 25 points, Antonelli 18, Leclerc 15, Hamilton 12, Norris 10 and Verstappen 8.
Sources
- Lapchive — 2026 round 1 Australian GP results
- formula1.com — Russell wins action-packed Australian GP from Antonelli as Mercedes secure 1-2 finish
- The Race — Australian Grand Prix 2026 F1 race results
- PlanetF1 — 2026 Australian Grand Prix F1 results
- GPFans — FIA announce late Mercedes penalty verdict after front row lockout