George Russell won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne as Mercedes converted a chaotic start and savvy pit calls into a dominant one-two finish.
Polesitter Russell lost the lead briefly off the line to Charles Leclerc and faced early pressure from Lewis Hamilton after both Ferraris, starting fourth and seventh, surged at the start. Leclerc grabbed the lead into Turn One and what followed was a frenetic opening sequence: seven lead changes between Russell and Leclerc within the first nine laps as the new hybrid energy rules and fresh race tactics produced constant wheel-to-wheel action.
Leclerc emerged ahead after that initial scrap with Russell and Hamilton close behind. The complexion of the race changed on lap 11 when Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull stopped on track and a Virtual Safety Car was deployed. Mercedes opted to pit both cars under the VSC — including Kimi Antonelli, who had dropped from second on the grid after early deployment problems — while Ferrari elected to stay out.
A second brief VSC, prompted when Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac stopped near the pit entry, again saw Ferrari remain on track and extend their stints. The Scuderia finally pitted its cars on laps 26 and 29 under green-flag conditions for fresh tyres. Despite Ferrari’s newer rubber, Mercedes found enough pace on older tyres for Russell and Antonelli to hold position without a second stop, sealing the Mercedes one-two.
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle described the VSC window as decisive, saying Ferrari ‘gave up track position and lost control of the race.’
Russell finished 2.9 seconds clear of team-mate Antonelli. Leclerc wound up third, about 15 seconds behind the winner, just ahead of Hamilton, who closed in late but could not claim a podium for the season opener. McLaren and Red Bull, expected to be competitive based on late-season form last year, were off the pace in race trim: Lando Norris and Max Verstappen fought a distant battle for fifth, with Norris prevailing and Verstappen recovering from 20th on the grid to sixth; both made two stops.
Hadjar, who had been running strongly from third on the grid, retired early with a mechanical issue. Local favourite Oscar Piastri suffered a heavy blow when he crashed on the way to the grid and did not start. Nico Hülkenberg also did not take the start for technical reasons.
All five British drivers in the 2026 field scored points, with Haas’s Oliver Bearman seventh and 18-year-old debutant Arvid Lindblad completing a breakthrough weekend in eighth for Racing Bulls. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto was ninth and Pierre Gasly took tenth for Alpine.
How the opening laps played out
Teams had warned in testing that the new cars and the revised hybrid systems — roughly a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power — would make battery management and deployment trickier and complicate strategy. The melee in Melbourne confirmed those fears.
After Ferrari’s blistering getaway put Leclerc into first and Hamilton third on lap one, Russell repassed Leclerc before Turn 11 to reclaim the lead. Leclerc used his energy deployment to fight back and retook the lead through the fast Turn Nine. The two continued swapping positions, with Russell diving inside at Turn Three on lap eight only for Leclerc to respond six corners later. On lap nine Russell attempted a move into Turn One but locked up, allowing Leclerc to snatch the lead on corner exit.
Russell called the opening ‘chaotic’ and said the battle involved a lot of ‘yoyo’ overtaking as drivers tried to manage battery deployment while making passing moves. Leclerc described the early phase as ‘very tricky’ given the uncertainty over energy deployment and accepted that third was the best Ferrari could achieve by the finish.
Top 10 finishers
1) George Russell — Mercedes
2) Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes
3) Charles Leclerc — Ferrari
4) Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari
5) Lando Norris — McLaren
6) Max Verstappen — Red Bull
7) Oliver Bearman — Haas
8) Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls
9) Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi
10) Pierre Gasly — Alpine
Selected full results (gaps)
1) George Russell — Mercedes — 1:23:06.801
2) Kimi Antonelli — Mercedes — +2.974
3) Charles Leclerc — Ferrari — +15.519
4) Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari — +16.144
5) Lando Norris — McLaren — +51.741
6) Max Verstappen — Red Bull — +54.617
7) Oliver Bearman — Haas — +1 lap
8) Arvid Lindblad — Racing Bulls — +1 lap
9) Gabriel Bortoleto — Audi — +1 lap
10) Pierre Gasly — Alpine — +1 lap
Non-starters and retirees
Oscar Piastri — McLaren — DNS (crash on way to grid)
Nico Hülkenberg — Audi — DNS (technical)
Isack Hadjar — Red Bull — DNF (mechanical)
Valtteri Bottas — Cadillac — DNF
Fernando Alonso — Aston Martin — DNF
Formula 1 now heads to Shanghai for the season’s first Sprint weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix.