George Russell was ecstatic at the end of the race when he said ‘I love this car.’ You wouldn’t be surprised to hear that from the British driver as he took the checkered flag at Albert Park to win the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday 8 March. Kimi Antonelli held off Russell at the end as Mercedes completed a one-two at the top, overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third and Lewis Hamilton in fourth.
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F1 2026: FULL COVERAGE
Ferrari held an early lead over Mercedes, but their decision not to pit the cars during the two virtual safety car windows ultimately backfired and Russell took the early lead in the drivers’ championship.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris had to fend off a challenge from Max Verstappen to finish fifth in the race, with the Red Bull star taking sixth. Oliver Bearman secured seventh place as Arvid Lindblad enjoyed a great start to F1 life with eighth place.
Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.
Australian GP: TOP 10
George Russell—1:22,670
Andrea Kimi Antonelli — +2.974
Charles Leclerc — +15,519
Lewis Hamilton — +16.144
Lando Norris – +51 741
Max Verstappen — +54.617
Oliver Bearman – +1 round
Arvid Lindblad – +1 round
Gabriel Bortoleto – +1 round
Pierre Gasly – +1 lap
HOW DID THE Australian GP DEVELOP?
The drama happened even before the start of the race when Oscar Piastri hit a wall on his way to the track. As the five red lights went out, it was Ferrari who made the best start, with Leclerc taking the lead and Hamilton moving into third.
Arvid Lindblad may have been racing in his first grand prix, but he showed no signs of being a rookie, moving expertly to fourth.
Isack Haijdar kept falling, Kimi Antonelli made up for his poor start and quickly made his way onto the grid and into the top four.
The new rules promised to make the 2026 F1 season more exciting, and we got that in the first nine rounds. Russell and Leclerc swapped the lead almost five times before the Mercedes driver had his tires locked and allowed the Ferrari to overtake him.
Verstappen, who started the race from 20th place, fought his way to ninth place, but the same luck did not shine on his team-mate Hadjar, who had to stop his car on the 12th lap.
This caused the cars to pit as the virtual safety car was deployed, but Ferrari chose to keep both cars out. That was a call Hamilton wasn’t happy about and complained about it over the team radio.
They had another chance when Bottas’ Cadillac had to be stopped, but again Leclerc and Hamilton stayed out. This proved to be a slip from them as Russell overtook Hamilton for second as Leclerc finally pitted to take the race lead on lap 29.
While both Ferraris found pace on lap 40, Russell and Antonelli continued to hold them at bay. When lap 50 came around, Hamilton was faster than Leclerc, who was in third place.
Norris and Verstappen, who battled for the title last season, were relegated to fifth place in the race, with the reigning champion holding off Red Bull.
This became the most exciting battle of concentration as Mercedes continued to pull away from Ferrari at the end. Leclerc concluded by admitting that even when VSC came into play, Mercedes was too powerful for them.
“It looked like Mercedes had a bit more pace than us today, but maybe not as much as we saw yesterday, so that’s good, but I don’t think we could have won,” said Leclerc.
The action will now move to China for the Chinese GP on March 15.
– The end
Published on:
08 March 2026 10:58 IST
