The 2026 Formula One season has finally arrived after much anticipation and excitement.
The first race took place 90 days after Lando Norris won his maiden World Drivers Championship (WDC) at Abu Dhabi last year.
Let’s analyze, reflect, and overreact to the happenings of this past race weekend in Australia.
Before the race
Claims of sandbagging in testing and practice made predictions for the front of the field in Qualifying and the Grand Prix unreliable.
At the back of the pack, Aston Martin’s drivers both had worried the car would not last a full race.
Two-time WDC Fernando Alonso suspected he could only race about 25 laps before risking permanent nerve damage to his hands. His teammate, Lance Stroll, estimated he could only run about 15 laps before encountering the same problem.
This was by far the oddest story from pre-season as it seems the accredited Adrian Newey engineered a “torture chamber.”
Qualifying on Saturday was a dull affair as George Russell and Mercedes took pole with a time of 1:18:518, about three-tenths ahead of his teammate Kimi Antonelli and nearly eight-tenths ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who qualified third.
In comparison to last year’s Australian Grand Prix, this margin is quite large, whilst the times are much slower. In 2025, Norris took pole with a time of 1:15:096, and the eight-tenths that separated first and third place last Saturday, separated first and seventh last year.
The biggest story coming out of qualifying was that of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s unusual crash in Q1.
In his first flying lap of the session, Verstappen’s rear wheels locked while he tried to brake approaching Turn 1, causing the car to spin across the gravel trap and into the barrier. Although Verstappen was expected to start at the back of the grid, everyone expected him to advance up the field during the race.
Users on social media poked fun at Verstappen crashing so early in the season, joking that he would now be moved down to Racing Bulls. This, of course, is in reference to Red Bull’s history of being unforgiving to driver errors and swapping seats often during previous seasons.
right before the race
Like seriously, right before the race.
Before the lights go out and the cars begin racing, they take a slow lap around the circuit to line up in their starting positions, called the Formation Lap. Before this lap, there is the Reconnaissance Lap, in which the cars exit the pit lane and take a lap to get onto the circuit in the first place.
It was during this Reconnaissance Lap that home favorite, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri lost control of his car at Turn 4 and slammed into the wall. The car suffered significant damage and was out before Piastri could reach the home straight.
However, I think Piastri was the one who suffered the most.
Since Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc beat his “Monaco Curse” in 2024, there seems to be a new home race curse afloat in F1. Albert Park has always been unforgiving to its hometown heroes, as no Australian driver has ever stood on the podium in Melbourne.
In his first race with his own grandstand, Piastri had to walk back to the pitlane heartbroken.
The race
With such drama taking place before the actual race start, it was hard to imagine emotions could get any higher. But as the lights went out and the Grand Prix began, Leclerc and Russell gave the fans one of the most exciting race beginnings in recent memory.
Leclerc, starting P4, overtook Russell in Lap 1 setting in motion a yo-yo effect where the two drivers would continue to overtake each other for the lead in the following laps.
On Lap 10, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar would have to pull over due to a technical failure and officially retire from the race on Lap 12.
Due to his car being close to track, a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed.
Many cars pitted at this time to take advantage of the decreased time loss from pitting during the VSC, including the Mercedes. However, Ferrari stayed out, passing the pit lane twice under the VSC, much to the chagrin of Lewis Hamilton, who was heard on team radio saying “At least one of us should have come in.”
This call put both Ferrari’s at the front, but Russell was only 10 seconds behind them after a few laps, making it clear that if Ferrari were to pit now the Mercedes would overtake them.
It seemed like divine intervention for Ferrari when Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas’ had to retire in Lap 15, pulling over on the inside of the final corner. But, in a classic Ferrari strategic error, neither car pitted under this VSC.
When Ferrari finally pitted both cars, the Mercedes’ surged ahead into both first and second. They would hold those positions all the way to the checkered flag.
It honestly feels like a joke at this point. Maybe because I am a Ferrari fan, their mistakes are more prominent in my mind, but it feels like no other team consistently makes these detrimental strategic errors. The car shows more potential than the SF-25 last year, so hope is still there for the Scuderia and the Tifosi.
Users on social media were less than kind.
Something must have been in the air in Melbourne, as old rivalries kept making contact during the race. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Hass’ Esteban Ocon made contact on Lap 58, which feels like a tale as old as time as the two had an explosive collision in Australia in 2023.
Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Cadillac’s Sergio “Checo” Perez also made contact, seemingly rekindling their feud from 2024 when both were fighting to outdo each other for Red Bull’s second seat. That 2025 seat ultimately went to Lawson, but as of 2026, neither driver drives for Red Bull, and it seems no love has been lost.
The results
To recap, Russell stood on the top step of the podium, followed by Antonelli, and then rounded out by Leclerc.
This result is Mercedes’ first 1-2 finish since the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Russell earned his sixth win while Antonelli achieved his fourth podium.
Three drivers — Hadjar, Bottas, and Alonso — did not finish.
Lance Stroll finished the race but was Not Classified since he finished 15 laps behind the leader.
And Piastri, along with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, did not start.
Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad, the only rookie in the field, impressively scored four points in his debut finishing P8.
The takeaways
Russell, who joined Mercedes officially in 2022 just as their F1 dominance had ended, has been waiting to be an actual contender for years. It looks like Mercedes has given him the car to beat this year, now we need to see what he does with it.
I said it earlier and I’ll say it again: Ferrari just might be back. The car seems competitive, and if the right strategic calls are made as the season progresses, they can find themselves at the front of the field.
There were 120 overtakes on Sunday, almost triple the number of overtakes in last year’s Australian Grand Prix (45). But drivers and fans are still split on whether these new regulations have made racing better or worse.
Something to keep an eye out for is Verstappen’s attitude towards racing. There has been an ongoing rumor and joke the last few seasons that Verstappen is a step away from retiring. This is due to him already achieving great success (four WDCs and multiple records) and hinting that he is losing enjoyment racing in F1.
Verstappen has been vocal about his distaste for the new regulations, telling F1 chiefs, “I love racing, but you can only take so much, right?”
Max had an impressive race on Sunday, starting from P20 and finishing P6, earning him the accolade of Driver of the Day, something the 28-year-old Dutchman didn’t seem entirely enthused about.
Rumors are rumors but this one seems to gain traction every week.
what’s next?
The Chinese Grand Prix was up next on Sunday, March 15 at 3 a.m. EST. This was the first of six-sprint weekends this year.
The Shanghai International Circuit has larger braking zones than Albert Park, which will allow drivers to build up their battery naturally. There is also the incredibly long back straight in China to think about. Drivers will most likely use up all their energy there, instead of dividing it into four like in Melbourne.
I most likely will be watching the replay of the race later in the day, as I don’t think I could retain anything from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.