George Russell and Mercedes are the first winners of the new Formula 1, not without some problems. The strategy helps to remedy a difficult start, the main vulnerability of the W17, which the team will however be able to work on. Ferrar will also growi, which in the race rediscovers itself less distant from its silver rivals, at the dawn of a season in which development will be exponential. The hope is that this will also allow us to restore order to the race dynamics, although success will depend on the tools that the FIA chooses to use.
The race
Ready to go and Leclerc takes the lead in turn 1, with both Ferraris producing an excellent starting point from a standing start. The contribution of Maranello’s smaller turbo makes itself felt and will be even more valuable on tracks where the initial acceleration will be more extensive. Improving starts becomes a priority for Mercedeshowever aware of some mitigating factors in Melbourne’s difficulties. The anomalous accelerated switching off of the traffic lights certainly doesn’t help to reach the necessary pressure, while the energy recharge in the formation lap will need to be reviewed. Both Russell and Antonelli, in fact, find themselves on the grid with the battery completely drained, therefore without the extra thrust of the hybrid that would normally be available above 50 km/h.
However, Mercedes must acknowledge that it does not have enough to overtake and detach itself from Ferrari in the first stint, where the SF-26 shows good pace with a full tank of fuel. Then comes the turning point, the Virtual Safety Car that Toto Wolff’s team decides to use for the pit stop, unlike the Cavallino, which correctly expects a one-stop race. Unfortunately for Ferrari, however, the prediction turned out to be all too right, so much so that the Mercedes completed 46 laps without any noticeable impact on the tyres.
However, this is not the case for everyone, given that McLaren is forced to make a second stop with Norris, a difference that highlights the good chassis of the Silver Arrows. A little help for Russell also comes from the latest Virtual Safety Carlasting just about thirty seconds, but enough to bring his tires back to life in the only slight moment of difficulty. The Mercedes thus keep Leclerc’s Ferrari at bay, despite having tires that are 12 laps fresher, achieving a one-two that confirms the predictions from the day before.
First verdicts
Net of the margins for improvement at the start, Mercedes is the reference point for the beginning of 2026. The advantage is maximum in qualifying, also thanks to the power of the combustion engine which translates into an abundance of energy for the battery. The arrival of the new control in June will tell how much this depends on the presumed solution for the compression ratiowhich in any case would be unfair to compare to the case of the 2019 flow meter. At the time there was discussion about the deception of a real-time measurement by exploiting the weaknesses of the sensor, while the debate now is whether the limit on the compression ratio should only apply when cold or also when hot.
Ferrari breathes a small sigh of reliefin the face of a still significant delay in the race, but not like on Saturday. Hopes of catching up will depend on the effectiveness of the updates, which will have a huge impact this year. In this, the possible cancellation of the April races due to the tragedy in the Middle East would be a help for the pursuers. Furthermore, the development will not only be aerodynamic, but especially at the beginning there will be rapid learning about energy management, narrowing the differences.
The drivers will also have to do their part. Russell is now increasingly complete and constantbut he will have to watch out for Antonelli, who is very fast even without the right set-up after Saturday’s accident. Leclerc is confident he will find more confidence on other tracks, after a weekend in which he almost fumbled with the set-up, facilitating Hamilton’s approach. The English champion, however, appears in a very different form compared to 2025, thanks to a Ferrari, according to him, with its own DNA, but above all to the abandonment of ground effect Formula 1 cars, which were so indigestible to Sir Lewis.
The pursuers
Dull debut for the world champions McLaren, with local idol Oscar Piastri on the wall on the starting lap, while in the hands of Norris the MCL40 suffers from graining on the front tyres. It is a recurring trait in the Woking single-seaters and which transcends the regulations, highlighting the importance that the work carried out by Pirelli last year to reduce graining on the 2025 tires. To date the Papaya team is forced to chase, with Andrea Stella who attributes part of the delay to Mercedeswith which it shares the power unit, manages energy. McLaren will have the opportunity to work on it, without however neglecting the aerodynamic development of the MCL40, which is also lacking in the driven sections. The choice not to introduce updates from the presentation to today weighs heavily on this, with the possibility of making an important leap when the first developments arrive.
The failure of the power unit forces Hadjar to retire prematurely, but Verstappen’s comeback to sixth position can still be considered a positive debut for Red Bull in the role of engine engineer. Proof of this is the excellent eighth place of the Racing Bulls with the surprising Arvid Lindblad, protagonist in a middle of the group that is confirmed to be fought. Bearman’s seventh place follows on from the good things shown by Haas in the tests, a further sign of the competitiveness of the Ferrari power unit, but Bortoleto’s ninth position is no exception. Audi is making a good start on its climb towards the front rows of the grid, a goal that Binotto has set for 2030 some time ago.
The new Formula 1
The most awaited verdict, however, was the one on the new Formula 1. With six cars at full revs, the gaps are much wider than those we had become accustomed to in recent years, as was inevitable to happen at the dawn of a regulatory cycle. What makes us turn up our noses, if anything, are the dynamics in qualifying and at the start of the race, with several exchanges of positions which, although lively, appear too conditioned by the battery charge, far from the classic concept of duels. Fortunately, as the ranking stabilizes as the laps go by, energy management strategies tend to become uniform and overtaking becomes more difficult, in some cases witnessing braking with locked wheels and rotations at the apex.
It’s not the Formula 1 we were used to, but the hope is that the situation can improve over time. We will race on tracks that are decidedly less critical for energy, while the teams will converge in energy management strategies, making maneuvers increasingly less atypical. Of course, the FIA will have to make its assessments on how to intervene. It’s not just a matter of deciding if and when to write a new regulation for the next decade, but also of choosing what to tweak in the short term. Better regulating charging strategies is a possibility, even if the original sin remains the 50-50 ratio between electrical and thermal power. Reducing the hybrid by a few kilowatts and giving back a few horsepower to the petrol engine would help a lot in view of 2027, but decisions that should be made as soon as possible to give engine manufacturers time to adapt.
