The eagerly awaited opening round of the 2026 Formula 1 season was held this weekend in Melbourne, Australia, and, at the start of the new era of radically changed technical regulations, it was George Russell who claimed a sixth career victory for Mercedes.

Sport, even at a global level, is unimportant when major multinational conflicts arise, but the four-year-long war between Russia and Ukraine has clearly had little impact on the international sporting calendar. Only when transportation is directly impacted, and particularly air travel, do sports have to make changes to their plans, and this was certainly the case with Formula 1 a week ago when approximately 1,000 team members and officials had to suddenly look to amend their long pre-arranged travel routes for flying from Europe to Australia.

With Middle Eastern airspace suddenly restricted and the key international airport hubs in Dubai and Doha closed following the start of the war between the USA and Israel with Iran, alternative flights to Australia via Hong Kong and Singapore were in great demand, and some sought to fly directly to Perth in Western Australia with Qantas, followed by three-and-a-half hours of internal air travel east to Melbourne. Also, three charter flights were quickly arranged to transfer 500 F1 personnel to Melbourne.

Fortunately, at the conclusion of the final pre-season test in Bahrain last month, all the cars and related equipment were transported straight to Australia, averting a potentially disastrous scenario. However, looking slightly further ahead, F1 also has rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in mid-April, and the impact of the ongoing situation in the Middle East is being closely monitored, with European circuits not on this year’s calendar possibly available to step in as replacement venues. Also, the opening round of the 2026 World Endurance Championship had been due to take place in Qatar later this month but has now been postponed until the second half of its season. Looking at the bigger picture, this all simply confirms how important Middle Eastern events have become for world motorsport.



Back in Australia, as the Formula 1 world succeeded in convening at the temporary circuit around Melbourne’s Albert Park, two major questions, other than those about travel, were on everyone’s lips around the paddock. They related to which teams may have been sandbagging during pre-season testing to hide their true pace, with Mercedes a leading candidate, and, at the other end of the scale, just how many laps the troubled Honda-powered Aston Martin cars might be able to complete before having to retire both of its cars.

Aston Martin and Honda are facing numerous technical issues, but the main one is a severe vibration from the power unit’s petrol engine, which means it can’t be run at maximum revs and has also been damaging electrical components on the battery side of the unit. There was also a suggestion from the team’s management that the vibration through the chassis was serious enough to risk permanent nerve damage to its drivers’ hands if more than 25 laps were driven without stopping. However, this aspect was subsequently downplayed by Fernando Alonso, who said he could drive the car for up to three hours if need be!

In all sports there are winners and losers, and the three practice sessions in Melbourne suggested that Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren could all fall into the former category, with perhaps the new Cadillac team and definitely the beleaguered Aston Martin outfit definitely losers for now at least.

The Grand Prix began at 3pm local time (4am GMT) on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Albert Park, but the massed Australian fans were massively disappointed before the start as McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, whose home city happens to be Melbourne, crashed out on his way to the grid. Mercedes’ George Russell had claimed a dominant pole position ahead of his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen having also crashed early in the qualifying hour after his rear axle had locked unexpectedly.

Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fought hard for the lead in the opening exchanges during a race which featured a trio of Virtual Safety Car interventions, and crucially the team from Maranello delayed its pitstops compared to its rivals. This led to Russell and Antonelli giving Mercedes a comfortable 1-2 finish as Leclerc joined them on the post-race podium. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, McLaren’s Lando Norris, and Verstappen completed the top six finishers, with the latter climbing through the field after starting only 20th. It was disappointing that fifth-placed Norris reached the chequered flag a mighty 51 seconds behind the victorious Russell, showing how spread out the field was behind the leading quartet, although Racing Bull’s Arvid Lindblad stood out after finishing eighth on his F1 debut. Audi faced mixed results, with Nico Hülkenberg failing to start due to a communications issue, while its other driver, Gabriel Bortoleto, finished ninth and in the points.

The result of this opening round of the new campaign has left Russell heading the Drivers’ Championship and Mercedes the Constructors’ one, with China’s Shanghai the next stop on F1’s global calendar in just a week’s time. Those near the front of the grid will be relishing the prospect of what lies ahead between now and December, if concerned about Mercedes’ pace, whereas Aston Martin and Honda have much work to do to improve both reliability and performance.



2026 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix
1 George Russell (Mercedes) 1hr23m6.801s
2 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +2.974s
3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +15.519s
4 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +16.144s
5 Lando Norris (McLaren) +51.741s
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +54.617s
7 Oliver Bearman (Haas) Lapped
8 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) Lapped
9 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) Lapped
10 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) Lapped
11 Esteban Ocon (Haas) Lapped
12 Alex Albon (Williams) Lapped
13 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) Lapped
14 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) Lapped
15 Carlos Sainz (Williams) Lapped
16 Sergio Pérez (Cadillac) Lapped
17 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) Lapped
18 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) Retired
19 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) Retired
20 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) Retired
21 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) Did not start
22 Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) Did not start

2026 Drivers’ Championship
1 George Russell 25
2 Kimi Antonelli 18
3 Charles Leclerc 15

2026 Constructors’ Championship
1 Mercedes 43
2 Ferrari 27
3 McLaren 10