Round 1 of 23 · 8 March 2026

Australian Grand Prix 2026

Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne, Australia. 58 laps of 5.278 km (306.1 km).

George Russell won the Australian Grand Prix 2026 for Mercedes, ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc. Pole position: George Russell. Fastest lap: Max Verstappen, 1:22.091 on lap 43. Piastri and Hülkenberg did not start; Alonso, Bottas and Hadjar retired.

Race classification

58 laps

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / retired	Grid	Pts
1	63	George Russell	Mercedes	58	1:23:06.801	1	25
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	58	+2.974s	2	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	58	+15.519s	4	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	58	+16.144s	7	12
5	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	58	+51.741s	6	10
6	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	58	+54.617s	20	8
7	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	57	+1 lap	12	6
8	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	57	+1 lap	9	4
9	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	57	+1 lap	10	2
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	57	+1 lap	14	1
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	57	+1 lap	13	0
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	57	+1 lap	15	0
13	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	57	+1 lap	8	0
14	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	56	+2 laps	16	0
15	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	56	+2 laps	21	0
16	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	55	+3 laps	18	0
Ret	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	43	+15 laps	22	0
Ret	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	21	DNF	17	0
Ret	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	15	DNF	19	0
Ret	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	10	DNF	3	0
Ret	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	0	DNS	5	0
Ret	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	0	DNS	11	0

Starting grid

Penalties and pit lane starts

Stroll, Sainz and Verstappen were allowed to start after not setting a time within 107% of the fastest Q1 lap.

Qualifying

Q1 · Q2 · Q3

Pos	No	Driver	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	63	George Russell	1:19.507	1:18.934	1:18.518
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	1:20.120	1:19.435	1:18.811
3	6	Isack Hadjar	1:20.023	1:19.653	1:19.303
4	16	Charles Leclerc	1:20.226	1:19.357	1:19.327
5	81	Oscar Piastri	1:19.664	1:19.525	1:19.380
6	1	Lando Norris	1:20.010	1:19.882	1:19.475
7	44	Lewis Hamilton	1:19.811	1:19.921	1:19.478
8	30	Liam Lawson	1:20.491	1:20.144	1:19.994
9	41	Arvid Lindblad	1:20.409	1:19.971	1:21.247
10	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	1:20.495	1:20.221
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	1:21.024	1:20.303
12	87	Oliver Bearman	1:21.247	1:20.311
13	31	Esteban Ocon	1:20.759	1:20.491
14	10	Pierre Gasly	1:21.138	1:20.501
15	23	Alexander Albon	1:21.051	1:20.941
16	43	Franco Colapinto	1:21.200	1:21.270
17	14	Fernando Alonso	1:21.969
18	11	Sergio Perez	1:22.605
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	1:23.244

Practice 1

Best lap per driver

Pos	No	Driver	Time / gap	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	1:20.267	33
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	+0.469s	30
3	3	Max Verstappen	+0.522s	27
4	6	Isack Hadjar	+0.820s	24
5	41	Arvid Lindblad	+1.046s	22
6	81	Oscar Piastri	+1.075s	21
7	63	George Russell	+1.104s	26
8	12	Kimi Antonelli	+1.109s	24
9	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	+1.429s	23
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	+1.702s	21
11	31	Esteban Ocon	+1.894s	28
12	55	Carlos Sainz	+2.056s	30
13	30	Liam Lawson	+2.346s	28
14	87	Oliver Bearman	+2.415s	25
15	23	Alexander Albon	+2.863s	24
16	43	Franco Colapinto	+3.058s	26
17	77	Valtteri Bottas	+3.755s	24
18	10	Pierre Gasly	+3.768s	27
19	1	Lando Norris	+4.124s	7
20	11	Sergio Perez	+4.353s	14
21	18	Lance Stroll	+30.067s	3

Practice 2

Best lap per driver

Pos	No	Driver	Time / gap	Laps
1	81	Oscar Piastri	1:19.729	26
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	+0.214s	31
3	63	George Russell	+0.320s	28
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	+0.321s	32
5	16	Charles Leclerc	+0.562s	30
6	3	Max Verstappen	+0.637s	13
7	1	Lando Norris	+1.065s	29
8	41	Arvid Lindblad	+1.193s	30
9	6	Isack Hadjar	+1.212s	28
10	31	Esteban Ocon	+1.450s	29
11	87	Oliver Bearman	+1.597s	31
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	+1.622s	34
13	30	Liam Lawson	+1.629s	29
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	+1.939s	28
15	23	Alexander Albon	+2.118s	32
16	10	Pierre Gasly	+2.438s	16
17	55	Carlos Sainz	+2.524s	10
18	43	Franco Colapinto	+2.890s	27
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	+3.931s	28
20	14	Fernando Alonso	+4.933s	18
21	18	Lance Stroll	+6.087s	13
22	11	Sergio Perez	No time	2

Practice 3

Best lap per driver

Pos	No	Driver	Time / gap	Laps
1	63	George Russell	1:19.053	23
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	+0.616s	22
3	16	Charles Leclerc	+0.774s	20
4	81	Oscar Piastri	+1.034s	17
5	6	Isack Hadjar	+1.084s	15
6	3	Max Verstappen	+1.144s	15
7	12	Kimi Antonelli	+1.271s	18
8	1	Lando Norris	+1.390s	22
9	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	+1.406s	19
10	87	Oliver Bearman	+1.725s	18
11	41	Arvid Lindblad	+1.785s	15
12	30	Liam Lawson	+1.837s	13
13	31	Esteban Ocon	+1.930s	19
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	+2.014s	22
15	10	Pierre Gasly	+2.018s	26
16	43	Franco Colapinto	+2.360s	22
17	23	Alexander Albon	+2.611s	17
18	14	Fernando Alonso	+3.667s	20
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	+4.461s	12
20	11	Sergio Perez	+5.344s	21
21	55	Carlos Sainz	No time	1

Tyres

Pirelli compounds: C3 (hard), C4 (medium), C5 (soft).

Next: Chinese Grand Prix