Race report
Formula 1 Australian GP
F1 Australian GP: George Russell wins in Mercedes 1-2, Ferrari’s strategy fails
George Russell led Kimi Antonelli under the chequered flag as Ferrari opted not to pit under the virtual safety car
Ben Vinel
Edited: Mar 8, 2026, 7:28 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images
Full coverage Check out our full coverage of Miami GP
presented by
Mercedes took a 1-2 in the Australian Grand Prix kickstarting Formula 1’s new era, with polesitter George Russell winning from team-mate Kimi Antonelli as suboptimal strategy meant Ferrari’s challenge unravelled.
The race started with heartbreak for the home fans as local hero Oscar Piastri crashed on his reconnaissance lap. The Melburnian lost control of his McLaren MCL40 at the exit of Turn 4, and therefore failed to start the race – like Nico Hulkenberg, whose Audi R26 encountered a problem on his way to the grid.
Read Also:
As indicated by pre-season testing, the Ferraris had the quickest getaway; Charles Leclerc, from fourth, snatched the lead away from polesitter Russell, leading Isack Hadjar as Antonelli dropped from second to seventh. Arvid Lindblad jumped from ninth to fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who swiftly overtook the Racing Bulls and the Red Bull on his way to third.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images
Russell wasted no time and made his way past Leclerc on lap 2, on the run towards Turn 11. This doesn’t mean it was easy, as Leclerc enjoyed much better deployment on Lakeside Drive on the next tour and swept around the outside of the Mercedes in Turn 9.
On lap 8, as Max Verstappen made his way into the top 10 from the back of the grid while Antonelli recovered to fourth, Russell kept pressuring Leclerc and outbraked him on the inside of Turn 3 – but Leclerc reiterated his outside move in Turn 9 as their energy management duel continued.
Russell hit back on the next tour in Turn 1 but had a substantial lock-up and couldn’t stay ahead. By then, Hamilton and Antonelli had caught up with the leading duo.
Fifth-placed Hadjar retired with a technical issue on lap 11, causing the race to be neutralised by the virtual safety car. The incident promoted Lando Norris to sixth, with the reigning world champion the leading frontrunner to pit straight away. Having started the race on hard tyres unlike most of the field on mediums, Verstappen stayed out and inherited sixth.
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
The Mercedes cars did pit on the following tour, switching to hard tyres, and rejoined in third and fifth, separated by Lindblad. Russell and Antonelli were respectively 12s and 17s down on race leader Leclerc. Now in second, Hamilton was unconvinced by Ferrari’s strategy: “At least one of us should have come in,” he suggested on the radio.
Another retirement gave them the chance to do just that with another virtual safety car intervention, as Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac broke down on the inside of the last corner. Still, the Ferraris stayed out at the first time of asking, and the pitlane entry was subsequently closed. They were the only cars to stay out during both VSC sequences.
On lap 20, Russell’s deficit to race leader Leclerc was down to eight seconds; the Briton was lapping 7.5 tenths faster than second-placed Hamilton on average.
Leclerc ended up pitting at the end of lap 25 and rejoined a whopping 16 seconds down on Russell, who started pressuring his former team-mate on lap 27 and found a way back to the lead on the next tour. Hamilton pitted straight away and rejoined in fourth, with a 21-second deficit on Russell, who now enjoyed a seven-second gap to Antonelli as his closest challenger.
George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
The Italian sophomore was faster at that time and brought his deficit down to five seconds in four laps – after which yet another virtual safety car intervention occurred due to debris from Sergio Perez’ Cadillac on Lakeside Drive. The timing of the VSC was favourable to Russell, with Antonelli now six seconds down.
With 10 laps remaining, the gaps were largely unchanged at the front: Russell led Antonelli by six seconds, Leclerc by 15s and Hamilton by 19s.
Mercedes therefore romped to a comfortable 1-2 ahead of the Ferraris, with Russell triumphing three seconds ahead of Antonelli; the race winner led Leclerc and Hamilton by 16s.
The battle for fifth was fiercely contested between a resurgent Verstappen and Norris, with the McLaren driver coming out on top, but he was 52s down on Russell.
Read Also:
Haas’ Oliver Bearman prevailed in the midfield battle, leading Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly as the remaining points scorers.
Sergio Perez finished 16th and virtually last on Cadillac’s grand prix debut, two laps down.
Aston Martin’s well-documented Honda powertrain issues meant completing the whole race was impossible due to engine vibrations, so Fernando Alonso pitted at the end of lap 13, rejoined 10 laps down and retired definitively later. Lance Stroll drove over half the race consecutively – which exceeded expectations – and pitted at the same time as his team-mate retired, rejoining the race 15 laps down but still taking the chequered flag.
2026 Australian Grand Prix results
RACE
All Stats
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine 1 G. Russell Mercedes 63
58
1:23'06.801
220.992 1 25 Mercedes Mercedes 2
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
58
+2.974
1:23'09.775
2.974 220.860 1 18 Mercedes Mercedes 3 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
58
+15.519
1:23'22.320
12.545 220.307 1 15 Ferrari Ferrari 4 L. Hamilton Ferrari 44
58
+16.144
1:23'22.945
0.625 220.279 1 12 Ferrari Ferrari 5 L. Norris McLaren 1
58
+51.741
1:23'58.542
35.597 218.723 2 10 McLaren Mercedes 6 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 3
58
+54.617
1:24'01.418
2.876 218.598 2 8 Red Bull Red Bull 7 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
57
+1 Lap
1:23'11.394
1 Lap 216.982 1 6 Haas Ferrari 8 A. Lindblad Racing Bulls 41
57
+1 Lap
1:23'18.617
7.223 216.669 1 4 RB Red Bull 9 G. Bortoleto Audi 5
57
+1 Lap
1:23'19.576
0.959 216.627 2 2 Audi Audi 10 P. Gasly Alpine 10
57
+1 Lap
1:23'35.828
16.252 215.925 1 1 Alpine Mercedes View full results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Liam Lawson turns heads at Australian GP with mud-covered Ford Raptor T1+ arrival
Next article Five quick takeaways from F1’s first race of the new era in Melbourne
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Ben Vinel
Valtteri Bottas denies he might lose his Cadillac seat for F1 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
17 h
Valtteri Bottas denies he might lose his Cadillac seat for F1 2027
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
19 h
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Latest news
Diogo Moreira: “From what we saw in the Austria test, Honda could fight for MotoGP title next year”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 24 min
Diogo Moreira: “From what we saw in the Austria test, Honda could fight for MotoGP title next year”
Lando Norris' LN4 Fusion granted entry to F2 for 2027
FIA F2
F2 FIA F2 55 min
Lando Norris' LN4 Fusion granted entry to F2 for 2027
Alex Marquez: MotoGP hurting future of young riders with punishing format
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Alex Marquez: MotoGP hurting future of young riders with punishing format
Why Aston Martin and Red Bull were asked about an unlikely F1 engine partnership
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Why Aston Martin and Red Bull were asked about an unlikely F1 engine partnership
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe