George Russell claimed victory in the 2026 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the Briton leading team mate Kimi Antonelli to secure a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of the Ferrari duo in an action-packed event that saw the Silver Arrows make a one-stop strategy work to their favour.
A thrilling start to the race saw Charles Leclerc surge forwards from P4 on the grid, seizing the lead from Russell before the two continued to swap positions over the next few laps. Both Mercedes cars subsequently pitted when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed due to Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar pulling off the track – while the Ferraris opted to stay out.
Another VSC phase followed due to the retirement of Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, during which Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton again remained out on track. When the Scuderia’s drivers later made their stops, Russell and Antonelli returned to the front – leading to questions over how each team’s strategy calls would unfold, given that Ferrari looked likely to run until the end of the race while Mercedes may potentially have to stop again.
Despite their ageing tyres, the Silver Arrows appeared to be staying out until the chequered flag, with the Scuderia pair having not closed in enough to pressure the leading duo into making another stop – and the plan worked, with Russell crossing the line 2.9s ahead of Antonelli to secure a sixth career victory.
Leclerc and Hamilton were forced to settle for third and fourth, with reigning World Champion Lando Norris following in fifth for McLaren – the Briton acting as the squad’s sole runner after Oscar Piastri spun off track en route to the grid before the race had started, meaning that the local favourite could not participate in his home event.
Max Verstappen – also the only car in his team to take the chequered flag following Hadjar’s retirement – climbed up to sixth, marking an impressive recovery for the Red Bull driver from 20th place, while Haas’ Ollie Bearman took seventh and rookie Arvid Lindblad secured points on his debut, the Racing Bulls driver claiming eighth place.
Gabriel Bortoleto was ninth in Audi’s first race as a works outfit, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly claiming the final point on offer in 10th. The Frenchman’s countryman Esteban Ocon just missed out in 11th for Haas, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and the Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson.
Franco Colapinto placed in P14 for Alpine, with Carlos Sainz in the Williams and the Cadillac of Sergio Perez rounding out the classification, the latter marking a milestone moment by completing the American outfit’s maiden Formula 1 race.
Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso both retired for Aston Martin before each rejoining the race at different stages, while Bottas and Hadjar each failed to make the finish after their aforementioned retirements.
There were also two drivers who did not participate at all, with Piastri’s incident prior to the start putting him out of the event, while Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was wheeled off the grid before the race due to a technical issue.
More to follow
