The 2026 Formula One season opened in Australia. With new regulations, two new teams (Cadillac and Audi) and one new driver the first round was highly anticipated. With multiple teams suffering from issues in pre-season testing, it was impossible to know who would end up where.
Drama began on Saturday, with a substantial crash from the young Kimi Antonelli in the third free practice, leaving Mercedes with quite the job to get it fixed before qualifying. The team was aided by an uncharacteristic mistake by Max Verstappen in the opening stages of qualifying that led to a red flag, allowing them a crucial few minutes to get Kimi’s car ready and allowing him to claim a spot on the front row for Sunday’s race. It was his teammate George Russell who would take the first pole of the season, making it a front row lockout for the Silver Arrows for the first time in 5 years. Meanwhile, Isaac Hadjar qualified 3rd, a great result for his first race in the red bull.
On Sunday, before the lights would go out, the Australian home race curse struck again. During the first sight lap just 30 minutes before the race was due to start, home hero Oscar Piastri put his McLaren into the wall at turn four. It was heartbreak for thousands of his fans at the track who had travelled to see him race as well as the millions across the world who switched on their broadcasts to this news. Nico Hulkenberg would also not start his first race at Audi due to a mechanical issue discovered pre race.
At 3pm on Sunday 8th March the lights of the first race of the new regulations would be underway. It was a great start for both Ferraris with Charles Lecerc taking the lead going into turn one while rookie Arvid Lindblad shot up to 4 places within the first lap running in 4th. With no battery on the start both Mercedes lost places, but they soon caught up leading to an exciting fight between Russell and Leclerc for first.
This was cut short by Isaac Hadjar’s crash which led to a virtual safety car, under which both Mercedes chose to pit saving around 11 seconds. Hamilton questioned Ferrari’s choice to stay out, suggesting that it would have been wise to split the strategy between the two cars. The Ferrari strategists may have thought that they had been vindicated when a slow moving Bottas in a Ferrari-powered Cadillac brought out a second safety car closer to the optimum pit window. However, the ex-Mercedes driver retired at pit entry, preventing any stops from taking place.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin were treating the race as a glorified test session, with Alonso retiring from the race while Stroll ran 15 laps behind the leader by the end. Aston Martins issues have been attributed to the vibrations caused by their new Honda engine, with some reports suggesting that the drivers risk nerve damage in the wrists when running at full speed.
As the chequered flag waved, the race ended with the first Mercedes 1-2 since Hamilton left the team while Charles Leclerc claimed third for Ferrari. All five Brits finished in the top 8 with the rookie of Arvid Lindblad ending his first race as the youngest British point scorer in history in a respectable 8th. Bortaletto brought home Audi’s first ever points finishing just behind in 9th.
George Russell’s first victory of the season was extra special considering that if his girlfriend, Carmen, had not got appendicitis he would not have made it to Australia. Russell was planning to do some pre-season training with his personal trainer Aleix Casanova in Doha. Because of his Carmen’s illness, Russell decided not to go and extend his time in England before setting off for the race. This decision turned out to be extremely wise as when the war in the middle east broke out many got stuck in the region, including Casanova who would not make it to Australia in time for the race. With Qatar Airways as the lead sponsor of F1, there were issues for many fans and teams travelling through the territory, especially those coming from the UK, with some team members taking up to 60 hours to arrive.
Just a week later going into China it was announced that both the Bahrain & Saudi Arabian grand prixs in April would be cancelled due to the same ongoing conflict. This decision had to be made now as much of the kit used in China was due to travel to Bahrain next as two sets travel around the world at once due to time constraints. The kit that was used in Australia is currently on its way to Japan. The decision was taken not to replace these races as that would have been a logistical nightmare at such short notice. Therefore, the season will now go ahead with just 22 of the 24 planned races.
The Chinese Grand Prix had further Mercedes domination making the headlines. Featuring the first sprint of the season the pecking order of the teams is starting to emerge, with Mercedes and Ferrari proving their dominance while Cadillac, Aston Martin and Williams solidify themselves at the bottom. The sprint podium was predictable with George in 1st followed by the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton, while Oscar Piastri’s McLaren would appear for the first and only time so far this season in a racing format. On Saturday, qualifying went as expected except right at the end where Russell suffered a mechanical issue that almost cost him the whole race. The Brit was able to restart his car and put in one flying lap to claim second place just behind his teammate Kimi Antonelli who would become the youngest pole sitter in F1 history.
On race day, both McLarens would not start due to separate issues with their power units. This meant that both last year’s world champion and the defending Chinese grand prix race winner would not run a single lap. This would be extra devastating for Piastri who has not taken part in any grand prix this year so far. Audi’s Garbriel Bortaleto and Williams’ Alex Albon also did not start the race, reducing the grid to just 18 before the lights went out. It was a bad day for former world champions as alongside Norris who did not start, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso would both retire from the race. Lance Stroll would also not finish.
However it was not all bad news for world champions as Lewis Hamilton claimed his first podium for the red team, sharing the moment with his former race engineer Pete Bonnington whose new driver Kimi Antonelli became a race winner for the first time in his career in only his second season. He is the first Italian to win a race in two decades. Antonelli’s former Formula 2 teammate Ollie Bearman also put on an impressive performance finishing 5th in a Haas, while his current teammate George Russell joined him in his celebrations on the podium. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff looked on in delight claiming it was one of the best moments of his career in the sport.
Looking ahead at the season that is to come it is difficult to know who will come out on top. Mercedes have emerged as the dominating force, but Ferrari are not far behind. Can the raining constructors champions McLaren turn it around or are they relegated back to the midfield? Can Kimi Antonelli become the youngest world champion in history or will his teammate Russell claim his first title? Will it be Hamilton instead who returns to claim his 8th? Only time will tell, but we can be sure that we are in for an interesting year in the world of Formula One.
