GP Australia 2026, order of arrival: Mercedes one-two, Russell beats Kimi. Ferrari on the podium with Leclerc, Hamilton 4th

F1 Australia, the GP ranking

F1 Australia, the GP news

Now it’s official: Formula 1 starts again from Mercedes. After the chatter and controversies of recent months, the track reaffirms the superiority of the Brackley team, which in Melbourne defends the 1-2 in qualifying and scores the first double of the year: George Russell precedes Kimi Antonelli and is a candidate to be the driver to beat for 2026.

There Ferrari today it is clearly second force and secures third and fourth place with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. The Scuderia is the only one that manages to engage in a dispute with the W17: the smaller turbo allows the two Ferrari drivers to recover positions at the start, with the Monegasque going from fourth to first already in turn 1. Leclerc then starts a great battle with Russell, confirming the competitiveness of the SF-26 on full fuel: a fight which, to be honest, has a strong artificial component (the Ferrari driver himself jokes about the boost on the radio stating that he feels like he’s catching a mushroom at Mario Kart) but he at least has the merit of livening up the first part of the race. Not everyone will like it, but it is the path taken by the new F1.

For Russell it is the sixth career victory. A success perhaps diminished by the choice of Ferrari not to stop under the Virtual Safety Car due to Isack Hadjar’s engine failure. Mercedes stops both the Briton and Antonelli, the Scuderia holds on track position and does not diversify the strategy between Leclerc and Hamilton. It’s difficult to say whether a different path would have allowed us to fight for victory, but perhaps there was the potential for a double podium. On the other hand, a good Antonelli took the podiumwho made up for an uncertain start and was the protagonist of a solid GP, finishing just three seconds behind his more popular teammate.

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F1 Australia, live coverage of the GP

You can relive the emotions of the Melbourne race with our live commentary.

The next appointment

F1 returns to the track next week with the appointment in China. The first Sprint weekend of the season will be held in Shanghai, with tests scheduled for the Italian night between Thursday 12th and Friday 13th (start at 4.30). Friday at 8.30am the Sprint Qualifying which determines the starting grid of the short race (start in the night between Friday and Saturday, start at 4am). Qualifying will take place on Saturday at 8am and the GP on Sunday will begin at the same time.