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2026 Formula 1 Australian GP
Mar 5, 2026 to Mar 8, 2026
| Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, AU
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Formula 1 Australian GP
F1 Australian GP live commentary and updates - FP3
Follow along for updates from FP3 at Formula 1's Australian GP
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11:11:11 pm
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We'll be back in about an hour and a half for qualifying - we'll catch you then! Thanks for joining us - and don't miss the battle for pole Down Under!
11:10:33 pm
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FP3 report
Formula 1
F1 Australian GP: Russell tops interrupted FP3 as Antonelli suffers heavy crash
11:02:28 pm
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Hefty shunt for Antonelli
It's going to be unlikely that Antonelli will be ready for qualifying, since that's about two hours' away...
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes crash
Photo by: Paul Crock / AFP via Getty Images
10:54:09 pm
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So, impressive pace from Mercedes - we were waiting for that. Will the W17 carry the same advantage into qualifying, or can the Ferraris, McLarens, or Red Bulls find something extra?
You'll want to tune in later for qualifying - it's going to be a blast.
Checkered flag
10:52:11 pm
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Lindblad goes 10th fastest. Hadjar completes a lap and moves up to fifth, albeit 1.084s off the pace, and Verstappen is a tenth behind the Frenchman. Hamilton then moves up to second.
Bearman goes 10th, while Albon can't improve on 17th.
And that should be that!
10:50:49 pm
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Norris goes fifth fastest after a bit of traffic on his lap - but Russell pulls the pin and sets a 1m19.053s to go 0.774s clear of Leclerc's time.
Bortoleto goes seventh for now, ahead of the Red Bulls - but they're improving.
Green flag
10:47:37 pm
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And we're back for the final four minutes! Norris and Russell hit the road, aiming to throw in a last-gasp quali simulation.
Hadjar's trying to squeeze in, but he's got a Cadillac in the way. After near-contact with an Alpine, Alonso lets the two Red Bulls into the fast lane.
10:45:54 pm
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And we will get going - and there'll be four minutes on the clock once we get there.
Norris sits at the head of the queue - McLaren making the most of its pitlane position.
10:44:54 pm
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The bits of Antonelli's car have been fished off the track - shards of carbon fibre everywhere.
We might actually get going again here - the drivers remain in the cars and raring to go...
10:43:07 pm
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Russell was about to set a good lap, with two purple sectors before the session was put on hold.
Antonelli's back in the garage, and looking at the data to work out why the rug was pulled from underneath him in Turn 2.
Red flag
10:38:04 pm
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Red flag
Antonelli's put his Mercedes in the wall at Turn 2. Big crash, losing traction on the kerb and speared into the opposite wall.
He's not going to be in qualifying later, I shouldn't imagine. Toto Wolff grimaces as he sees his car is smeared across the track.
10:36:59 pm
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Oop, Hulkenberg has the circuit to himself and he decides to have a moment exploring the grass at Turn 13. Antonelli, Russell, Bortoleto, and others have now hit the track on softs.
10:33:37 pm
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We've got a little bit of a lull now - Hulkenberg's just gone out on new softs, and others will surely follow suit.
Filip Cleeren
10:30:34 pm
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It has been quite a busy morning here in Albert Park between the FIA's early morning decision to remove the crucial straight mode zone between Turn 8 and 9, only to make a swift U-turn.
Our sources suggest the FIA made the decision based on driver feedback in Friday's night's briefing as well as overnight analysis back in Europe, with Audi being the team that was said to be on the edge with its low downforce configuration. The team has declined to comment.
Naturally, some teams went ballistic when they heard of the eleventh-hour change, just because a small minority of teams faced an potential issue. Removing such a long straight mode zone, some two hours before FP3, is a huge change to the energy harvesting strategy, the ride heights, plank wear and other parameters.
The FIA can make such a change unilaterally on safety grounds, but the teams' heavy pushback suggests it would have been much wiser to consult them first.
10:30:12 pm
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Ferrari looks very pacey so far. Leclerc goes for another lap and has a purple first sector, but is just a fraction off of his benchmark. 20 minutes to go, so we might have a final flurry of hot laps on fresh tyres - if, of course, the teams have enough sets.
Stopwatch
10:26:11 pm
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Albon came to a stop at Turn 4, but he's moving again. He's currently 14th in the times, as Williams has come down to earth a little bit at the start of this season so far.
Alonso has dug out some pace from the Aston Martin, 2.8s off the pace after his attempt at a quali lap.
Piastri goes quickest with a 1m20.164s, but Leclerc posts a 1m19.827s to go top.
Stopwatch
10:20:49 pm
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Leclerc now moves to the top of the order, setting a 1m20.271s.
Hulkenberg gets a nice tow off Verstappen to go up to fifth, before the Red Bull driver sets off on his own lap.
Piastri goes second quickest with a purple final sector, but Hamilton then moves back on top with a 1m20.176s. Bortoleto then goes sixth fastest, 0.399s off Hamilton.
Stopwatch
10:17:16 pm
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Antonelli soaks up a tow from Hamilton to go quickest now, setting a 1m20.324s. Verstappen also moved up to third, setting the same lap time as Leclerc - who went fourth-fastest.
Hamilton went a smidge wide through Turn 3, locking up and missing the apex there. Bottas also followed suit, locking up both tyres.
All but Sainz and Stroll have at least one lap on the board now.
Green flag
10:13:06 pm
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And we're back! Norris and Piastri are first to hit the road - no laps on the board so far for Piastri.
Stroll and Albon are yet to visit the circuit, while Sainz will presumably take no further part in the lap.
10:11:10 pm
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Sainz's car has been moved, so we should be about ready to go - plenty of drivers eager to get back on track. We've lost about five minutes of running, which isn't too bad...
Red flag
10:05:44 pm
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Session paused
We have a red flag to move Sainz's stranded Williams - better late than never, I suppose.
Alonso had just gone out on track, and now works his way back into the garage. Once everyone's back in, they can move the car.
Virtual Safety Car
10:01:18 pm
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Sainz just lost all power coming out of Turn 13, and the retardation from the ERS stopped the car pretty quickly.
Another stoppage for Williams, after Albon had a hydraulic issue yesterday. The Grove team enjoyed a reliable pre-season, so the emergence of gremlins now will be most unwelcome.
We have a VSC, as the marshals come to move him - Sainz is trying to explain the issue.
Yellow flag
09:58:58 pm
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Hulkenberg goes up to second so far, although Hamilton finds more pace on his second lap to extend the margin from 0.5 to 1.5s. Bortoleto is a further 0.2s behind.
Sainz, meanwhile, has crawled to a halt on the way to the pit entry...
09:56:20 pm
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Hamilton opens with a 1m21.599s on a set of softs, so there's the early benchmark.
Yesterday, Oscar Piastri set a 1m19.729s to go quickest at the end of FP2, so there's some time to find. Fernando Alonso goes for a lap and has a lock-up.
Bortoleto now goes out on softs - Audi looked pretty good yesterday, with race runs tracking at about fifth overall and with both cars in the top 10 in the quali sims.
09:52:53 pm
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On Alpine - the team enjoyed a solid pre-season after a difficult 2025, and it looked as though the team would sit atop the midfield mix.
The team's race runs on Friday did look of that calibre, albeit just short of the Audi and Racing Bulls long-runs, but it didn't show much in the way of qualifying pace.
Lights green
09:51:31 pm
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FP3 has begun...finally!
After a 20 minute wait, FP3 opens for business. Franco Colapinto is first on the road, aiming to gather some data for Alpine after a muted day yesterday.
Perez and Hamilton also hit the road.
09:47:39 pm
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The barrier looks done, the marshals are just sweeping up and then we should be ready to go.
Full house in the grandstands at Albert Park.
09:44:34 pm
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Even with the delay, I don't think Lance Stroll is going anywhere for a while - lots of work going on at the back of the car and wires hanging out.
Just two more working batteries at Aston Martin - the team must hope that they're still in working order for qualifying.
09:42:06 pm
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The estimated start time has now been moved back by another five minutes - and should start at 12:50 local time. In theory.
09:37:40 pm
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Formula 1
Autosport Retro video: Top 10 F1 team debuts
09:37:11 pm
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There's a lesser-spotted Yuki Tsunoda, occupying the standard Red Bull reserve position by the garage-side screens.
Still another 10 minutes before we should be able to get going!
09:32:55 pm
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The world feed camera operators are evidently bored by the delay, filming Ollie Bearman eat something out of a metal flask thingy. Oats? Ice cream? Protein-enhanced gloop? Couldn't tell you what it was...
09:28:50 pm
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We have a delayed start to FP3, with barrier repairs going on down at Turn 5 following a crash in the F3 race earlier.
The session should begin in 15 minutes' time.
09:25:42 pm
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That's classic F1, isn't it? Someone lobbies for a change, another lobbies against it - and the mechanics are lumbered with the hard work, as they revert the set-up changes they needed to make.
Anyway, shall we get onto FP3? Coming up in five minutes...
09:20:03 pm
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Morning confusion and a U-turn
Overnight, the FIA had chosen to remove straight mode from the Lakeside Drive section of the circuit between Turn 8 and 9, following comments from a couple of drivers that they risked losing control of their cars at low downforce.
However, this is now being walked back on - and normal service will resume for now.
Formula 1
FIA reverses Australian GP straight mode change after pushback
09:12:46 pm
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Formula 1
What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Australian GP
09:12:30 pm
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FP2 recap
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri topped second practice at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, leading both Mercedes drivers, as Aston Martin’s struggles continued.
Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the first part of the session, with the frontrunners on hard tyres. The Ferrari driver lapped in 1m20.637s, leading Piastri in 1m20.638s, Kimi Antonelli in 1m20.801s, George Russell in 1m20.984s and Charles Leclerc in 1m21.478s.
Mercedes then switched to soft rubber, with Russell setting a 1m20.049s, subsequently outpaced by Antonelli in 1m19.943s. Piastri then lapped in 1m19.729s, with the fastest first sector only, which ended up being the day’s benchmark.
The Ferraris took fourth and fifth, with Hamilton 0.001s off Russell and Leclerc a further 0.241s adrift.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
09:07:05 pm
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FP3 under way soon!
Hello there! We're back to bring you more updates from this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, and FP3 will be under way shortly.
It's the final chance for our 22 drivers to get acquainted with the Albert Park circuit in their brand new cars, before we dive head-first into qualifying later.
Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
Pagination
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By: Jake Boxall-Legge
Published: Mar 7, 2026, 3:11 AM
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