George Russell took a comfortable, near three second victory ahead of Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The pole sitter had initially lost out to the two Ferraris as they got a better start, which set the stage for a race-long fight between the two Mercedes and the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc made the first of seven changes of lead with Russell into the first two corners, creating an interesting battle with the new regulations showing the new racing tactics and energy modes, which may ease some of the criticisms of the new power unit regulations. However, Leclerc lost out to Antonelli after trying to overtake early on
Leclerc then dropped fifteen seconds behind the Mercedes duo as he tried to fight off an attack from Hamilton, the seven-time champion could not find a way past, finishing six tenths behind. A first Grand Prix podium for Hamilton at Ferrari, still just out of reach.
Mercedes and Ferrari lived up to expectations from testing, but the expected large advantage of the Silver Arrows didn’t materialise; they still, however, will be seen as the favourites for the championship. But the worst fears haven’t come true, and there is a long, long way to go this year as the teams are expected to develop rapidly.
But for Ferrari, new season, same questions, strategy once their downfall. Under the VSC caused by Isack Hadjar stopping his Red Bull on track, Mercedes used it to make their pit stop, Ferrari did not.
Instead, they ran long, sticking to their pre-race plan of a one-stop strategy. By the time Leclerc pitted on lap twenty-five, Russell was only five seconds behind him, and the Ferrari emerged fourteen seconds adrift of the lead. On fresher tyres, Leclerc might have been expected to narrow the gap to Russell, but he did not, and the fight at the front was over.
Russell said, “I’m feeling incredible. It was a hell of a fight at the beginning. We knew it was going to be challenging. I got on the grid, I saw my battery level had nothing in the tank, made a bad start, and then some really tight battles with Charles, so I was really glad to cross the finish line. Thank you so much to the whole team, because it’s been a long time coming to have this car beneath us, and we couldn’t have started off in a better way.”
Antonelli adding “It’s the best start we could have wished for. Unfortunately, the start was really bad and I lost a lot of places and I found myself I had to recover. Overall, it was a good race. The pace was very strong, especially at the end. The racing was incredible in the first few laps.”
Leclerc said, “It was a very tricky race! Honestly, at the start, none of us knew what to expect with the fights, the energy. It’s even more tricky with the overtakes. You don’t know when your battery will cut on the straights, so while defending, there are massive speed differences.”
“It was quite challenging, but I was happy to get out of the battle in first. Unfortunately, that didn’t help us for the rest of the race, but it was a fun first part of the race. P3 was the best we could do today.”
World champion Lando Norris finished fifth, but the gap was huge, thirty-five seconds behind the two Mercedes and Ferraris, as he finished nearly three seconds ahead of Max Verstappen. They were the only other cars on the lead lap, as the Dutchman put in a brilliant recovery drive after a difficult qualifying.
Hopes of a reset for Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri following his dramatic downfall in the championship fight last season lasted four corners of his reconnaissance lap, when he crashed after getting on the kerb, crashing into the wall, breaking the front suspension. That meant he did not start.
Ollie Bearman finished seventh, seven seconds ahead of British rookie Arvid Lindblad, who had an impressive debut weekend with Racing Bulls. Lindblad early on passed both Norris and Hamilton, but both world champions and Bearman found their way past their fellow Englishman.
In the second half of the race, Bearman fended off an attack from the Racing Bulls, but both were a lap down. Eventually, the Haas driver was able to pull out a seven-second advantage over the Racing Bull. Gabriel Bortoletto scored points for Audi on their debut, their first Grand Prix since Bern 1939, as he finished sixteen seconds ahead of Pierre Gasly who completed the top ten.
Estaban Ocon missed out on the top ten as he finished eight-tenths behind his former teammate. Alex Albon was twenty-six seconds behind Ocon as he finished a second ahead of Liam Lawson. Frano Colapinto was twenty-eight seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz, and Sergio Perez was the final finisher, a further lap down.
Aston Martin went further than expected into the race, with Lance Stroll retiring on lap forty-one, Fernando Alonso was among the six retirements in the Aston Martin. He made a rocket start to run tenth briefly from seventeenth, but soon began to fall back as the car’s lack of pace showed.
He was pulled into the pits when the team spotted a problem mid-race, sent out again ten laps later to collect more data, and then called in again.
Related
- Australian GP – Qualifying Result
- AUSTRALIAN GP – George Russell beats Kimi Antonelli to pole by three-tenths as Mercedes shows expected advantage
- AUSTRALIAN GP – Oscar Piastri fastest in second practice, two tenths faster than the Mercedes duo
- AUSTRALIAN GP – Charles Leclerc fastest by four and a half tenths as he leads Ferrari one-two in first practice
- Welcome to the Australian Grand Prix – 05/03/2026
- PRIXVIEW – Australian Grand Prix
