2026 Australian Grand Prix – F1 results (Albert Park)
George Russell led a Mercedes 1-2 finish at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix.
Here are the complete F1 results from the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, at the Albert Park circuit.
Having taken a front-row lock-out on Saturday, Mercedes clinched a 1-2 to start the new season, with George Russell coming home ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli.
2026 Australian Grand Prix race results
Russell led home a Mercedes 1-2 finish in Melbourne, having weathered a strong Ferrari attack at the start of the race.
Charles Leclerc, starting from fourth on the grid, launched off the line to snatch the lead into Turn 1 and engaged in a cat-and-mouse battle with Russell as the pair cycled through their energy deployment.
But their squabbling allowed Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli in the second cars to join the battle, before the race was neutralised by a Virtual Safety Car when Isack Hadjar suffered a technical issue in his Red Bull.
Pulling off the track, Hadjar’s stoppage gave Mercedes the chance to pit under the Virtual Safety Car, with Ferrari opting against doing the same.
The chance to make a stop under VSC briefly presented itself to Ferrari when Valtteri Bottas ground to a halt in the pitlane entry, before the Race Director opted to close the pitlane for safety reasons.
It meant that Ferrari, when they did stop, had to change tyres in normal racing conditions, giving Mercedes the upper hand after their minimisation of time loss under the VSC.
Russell massaged his tyres home on a one-stop to win by four seconds from Antonelli, with Leclerc rounding out the podium over 10 seconds behind.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in the second Ferrari, just six-tenths of a second behind his teammate after looking the match of Leclerc’s pace throughout the Grand Prix.
Fifth went to McLaren’s Lando Norris, who held off a late race challenge from a recovering Max Verstappen, who coaxed his Red Bull to sixth place after starting at the back of the grid.
Oliver Bearman took seventh for Haas, the last of the cars to be lapped by Russell, while Arvid Lindblad scored points on debut with eighth place for Racing Bulls.
Gabriel Bortoleto finished ninth for Audi, with the final points place going to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
FULL REPORT: Australian GP: Russell leads Mercedes 1-2 after Ferrari VSC gamble fails Leclerc
- 1. George Russell Mercedes 58 Laps
- 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 Racing +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
- 11. Esteban Ocon Haas +1 Lap
- 12. Alex Albon Williams +1 Lap
- 13. Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1 Lap
- 14. Franco Colapinto Alpine +2 Laps
- 15. Carlos Sainz Williams +2 Laps
- 16. Sergio Perez Cadillac +3 Laps
- 17. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +12 Laps
- Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
- Valtteri Bottas Cadillac DNF
- Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing DNF
- Oscar Piastri McLaren DNF
- Nico Hulkenberg Audi DNF
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