Key events
Word from the Williams’ garage of Sainz is that his FP3 issue may prevent him from setting a time in Q1 – he’s yet to emerge. Also unsighted is Stroll, whose travails with his Aston Martin have been well-established over the weekend.
Verstappen’s car has been cleared and the countdown has resumed in Q1, with just over six minutes remaining. Two and a half hours after his big crash in FP3, Antonelli is amongst the cars heading back out.
Antonelli is out of the garage and preparing to join the line of cars awaiting their summon following the red card, this delay ensuring that he’ll have multiple attempts to set a lap to get him into Q2.
Going over the replays of Verstappen’s crash, the broadcast is musing on the possibility that Red Bull driver may have suffered a hand injury in the incident: the steering wheel he was holding whipping wildly as the back of his car hit the wall.
So, Verstappen’s qualifying will end without him setting a lap time. If nothing else, it guarantees that we’re in for some entertaining racing tomorrow, as we can expect him to launch a rapid campaign of overtakes as he seeks to move up from the back of the grid.
Verstappen has one into the wall! Boy oh boy, wowwee!
Red flags are out, stopping the clock (just saw Antonelli fall to his knees in a Mercedes garage s/) as the Dutchman gets out of the car unscathed.
Wow, looking at the replays, the rears completely locked up on Verstappen as he braked approached turn one, sending him spinning straight through the turn and into the barricade. “The car just locked on the rear axles… fantastic,” he says, deadpan, on the radio.
The Ferraris are the only cars that have come out with medium tyres for Q1 and they’re currently occupying the seventh and eighth-fastest places for the session. Nope, now it’s fourth and eighth, as Hamilton sets a new quick lap.
Just over ten minutes remaining in Q1 and Antonelli’s car is still yet to exit the garage. He’s not going to have much margin for error if he is able to get out there and record a lap.
Russell crosses the line to record his first lap – going quickest with a 1:19.840, a time that should see him through to Q2 – leaving Leclerc, Hadjar and Verstappen, Sainz, Stroll, and Antonelli as the only drivers we’re yet to have log a lap.
Both Maclaren cars have come out with soft tyres for Q1, an interesting choice so early on. Piastri goes quickest in his first lap but Norris logs a solid, but unspectacular time in his.
Hulkenberg – where were you during the Hulkenpodium in 2025!?!!?! – sets the first time of Q1 in his Audi, getting a time of 1:36.136 on the board. He’ll go quicker, but we’re away in Melbourne.
Bearman, Albon, Ocon, Gasly all come through afterwards, with rookie Arvid Lindblad setting a 1:21.008.
Q1 Begins
Green flags are waving at Albert Park, and the first qualification session of the 2026 F1 Championship is underway!
With just moments to go until Q1 begins, mechanics are continuing to work feverishly on Antonelli’s car, attempting to repair it in time to ensure he can set some kind of lap in this first session of qualifying. Bitta drama.
Really good stuff, this.
What a night at our Inclusive Pit Lane Experience 🤩
With our friends from What Ability Foundation, this experience provides a sensory reduced environment for people of all abilities to get a comfortable and up close look at the F1® team garages 🫶#AusGP pic.twitter.com/gdCqCWuIiR
— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) March 6, 2026
Who are we expecting to be quickest in qualifying? Well, it’s difficult to be too definitive given we’ve had disruptions and red flags across practice but it’s likely that the Mercedes-powered Mercedes and McLaren teams will have good pace (assuming Antonelli is able to take part after repairs to his car), followed by the Ferrari and Red Bull units.
After that, who knows? All we can probably say with certainty is that Aston Martin will be doing well to not suffer further catastrophe …
As a reminder, qualifying in 2026 will take part in three stages. All 22 cars will take the track in Q1 and set a time across 18 minutes, with the cars that come in ranked 22nd through 17th eliminated at its conclusion.
After a brief break, the remaining cars will return for a 15 minute Q2 session, at the conclusion of which the cars ranked 16th through 11th will be culled.
After a shorter seven minute break, qualifying will then conclude with a 13 minute Q3 session in which the ten remaining cars will engage in a shootout for pole position.
With the start of qualification imminent, a check of the rain radar, followed by double-checking glance out my window, suggests that we won’t have any rain interrupting today’s session. Must not be the water.
Moo
Much of the focus Down Under has, as you might expect, cantered upon hometown hero Oscar Piastri, who has set his sight’s upon going better than his third-placed finish – without upsetting the applecart alongside newly crowned champion Lando Norris
Valtteri Bottas, however, should have plenty of support from the locals throughout today as well, as the Finn has made Australia his home and away from home in recent years.
Alongside Aussie cyclist wife Tiffany Cromwell, the Cadillac driver has established McLaren Vale, South Australia as a second home; recently purchasing the Vineyard McLaren Vale estate.
He’s also embraced the Budgie Smuggler.
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Word from the Mercedes garage is that they’re hopeful that Kimi Antonelli will be able to take part in qualifying after his big crash in FP3, with the power unit and chassis emerging unscathed from the incident and leaving a gearbox replacement as the largest outstanding job.
We had some late developments in Melbourne, as FIA officials made changes to the straight zone mode in front of turn nine. And then we didn’t, when they performed a backflip after pushback from teams.
The change obviously would have had huge ramifications for energy recover but also meant that much of the data gathered during yesterday’s practice sessions – which took place with this straight zone still in effect – would have severely limited.
FIA has removed straight-line mode between Turns Six and Nine for safety reasons after concerns expressed by drivers. It will be worse for energy recovery but drivers were experiencing front and rear sliding through there at high speed
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) March 6, 2026
FIA statement on straight-line mode: “Following feedback in last hour from Teams & Drivers, & additional analysis contributed by Teams, decision to remove Straight Mode zone #4 is rescinded. Further evaluation during and after FP3.”
Why didn’t they ask teams first..?— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) March 7, 2026
In FP3 today, it was George Russell who went quickest, with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton following behind.
The session, however, was disrupted first by the Williams of Carlos Sainz coming to a stop near pit lane, requiring a red flag as it was removed, followed by a big crash from Russel’s teammate Kimi Antonelli, who went into the barrier on turn two to end his session and leave some doubt as to if his car will be repaired in time for qualifying.
There’s a renewed sense of optimism at Ferrari this season, one that, Giles Richards writes, is reflected in the spirit of Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton, F1’s first black race driver, has also taken the opportunity at the first race of the season to call for a movement to “take Africa back” and shed the influence of former colonial powers, as well as reiterated his desire to see F1 bring a race to the continent.
The first sprint race of the 2026 F2 season just ended, and it’s Paraguayan Joshua Dürksen – a development driver for Mercedes – who has taken the chequered flag for Invicta Racing.
New seasons, of course, evoke thoughts of hope and promise, of a blank slate in which we can project our dreams and aspirations on the month’s ahead, before the cruel grind of reality sets in.
Unfortunately for Aston Martin, however, they’ve not even been able to make it to qualifying before the cold hand of merciless materiality set in; their trip Down Under already looking more cooked than the last sausage left on the barbeque at the end of a Bunning’s sausage sizzle.
After a disrupted testing period, team principal Adrian Newey admitted on Thursday that drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will not be able to complete even half the race this weekend due to fears of permanent nerve damage related to a vibration problem with the team’s car – the former only able to complete 25 laps at a time and the latter, who has a history of wrist issues, only able to do 15.
The news didn’t get any better after FP1 and FP2 yesterday, with Newey disclosing that the team was down to its last two battery units for their hybrid engines – the ones currently in the cars – and that they wouldn’t be able to source replacements if problems should arise.
Needless to say, the relationship between Aston Martin and power supplier Honda – the make-up of the latter seemingly unknown by the former before they reached an agreement – has already reached a nadir.
This has already had an impact on today’s racing, too, with Alonso seeing some improvements in pact but Stroll not taking part in FP3.
Lance will not take part in FP3 due to a suspected ICE issue.#AusGP
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 7, 2026
Alonso 3.1s off the fastest time for now – could actually be important if there are any issues in qualifying as it shows Aston has the pace to be well within 107% this weekend (he was just 0.6s inside the FP2 time) #F1 #AusGP
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) March 7, 2026
When the new Formula One season begins on Sunday in the usual fever of excitement and anticipation, consider amid the maelstrom the Cadillac team. Before the lights go out in Melbourne, F1’s newest entrant will have a deserved chance to take a breath and savour for but a moment, their remarkable achievement of simply having made it to the grid.
The sweeping changes to regulations this year were always going to present new opportunities and the consensus is that it’s Mercedes that will have the pace heading into the new season – something which has played out across FP2 and FP3.
“FP1 looked positive, but then [in] FP2 the teams are showing little by little, a bit more. Unfortunately, we seem to be on the back foot – especially compared to Mercedes, [they] seem to be very, very strong,” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said yesterday.
“I don’t think they showed everything on low fuel, but on high fuel, it was very impressive. I mean it’s the first time probably we see how much there is to them.
“[They had] a bit more [pace] than what I would have liked, but it’s the way it is. On the other side, it’s been quite a positive start on the weekend, and we’ll keep working very hard to maximise everything for tomorrow.
“For the rest of the weekend, it’s all about putting everything together. In qualifying, I have the feeling that it can be quite close.
“In the race, it seems that Mercedes has quite a lot of performance coming, but we’ll see.”
The bookmakers have installed George Russell as the favourite to take out this year’s drivers’ title and the Brit has cut a quietly confident figure – albeit almost everyone has been relatively quiet to now, not wanting to give any hints – heading into the first race of the season.
The 2026 Grid
Just a year on from getting approval to take the grid in 2026, the arrival of Cadillac to F1 has ushered in the return of Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas to the grid for the 2026 campaign, with the American manufacturer – who will be powered by Ferrari until they transition to an in-house power unit – opting for experience behind the wheel in their debut season.
While not technically a start-up like Cadillac, Audi will also race for the first time this year, taking over from over Kick Sauber, whom they purchased in 2024 with the intent on fielding a factory team in this first year of the new regulations.
Ford, meanwhile, is back as an engine supplier for the first time since it powered Jordan in 2004, partnering with Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls following their split with Honda. The Japanese supplier, for their part, are now supplying Aston Martin.
After the demotion of Yuki Tsunoda to test and reserve driver, Isack Hadjar has made the step-up to Red Bull Racing from Racing Bulls, with his seat taken by British driver Arvid Lindblad, who is making the step-up from Formula 2.
The 2026 Grid:
Franco Colapinto Alpine
Pierre Gasly Alpine
Lance Stroll Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin
Nico Hulkenberg Audi
Gabriel Bortoleto Audi
Valtteri Bottas Cadillac
Sergio Perez Cadillac
Charles Leclerc Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari
Esteban Ocon Haas
Oliver Bearman Haas
Lando Norris (C) McLaren
Oscar Piastri McLaren
George Russell Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
Liam Lawson Racing Bulls
Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls
Max Verstappen Red Bull
Isack Hadjar Red Bull
Carlos Sainz Williams
Alex Albon Williams
Lando Norris recalls being rendered speechless with joy when he was given his first contract with McLaren. Sitting in the cramped office of a paddock truck, the confirmation that he had made it to Formula One left him “very smiley for a long time”. Seven years on, he enters the new season having achieved his lifelong ambition of becoming world champion and is wearing an equally irrepressible grin as he sets about defending his title.
For the first time, Lando Norris will enter the season as champion, seeing off a late charge by Max Verstappen during the tail end of the 2025 to break the Dutchman’s longstanding stranglehold on the driver’s championship.
And as he told Giles Richards last month, the Brit feels ready to go back-to-back.
If you’re just popping your head back in for the first time since last season, I’m afraid there’s a whole new vocabulary that you’re going to need to come to grips with. There’s now hybrid engines and active aerodynamics to contend with, as well as the departure of the DRS and the arrival of overtake mode and recharge mode.
Didn’t do the required reading and have no idea what I’m talking about? Don’t worry, Giles Richards has you covered.
Of course, this is F1, where every team is doing everything they can to harness the most amount of speed possible from their cars – with their tinkering always pushing right up against the limit of what is or may be acceptable under the regulations.
Thus, we’ve already had a blow-up under the new regulations before a race has even been staged, this one focused on accusations that Mercedes’ had used thermal expansion of components to exploit a loophole in regulations surrounding engine compression ratios.
Preamble
Joey Lynch
Howdy all, it’s ya boi Joey Lynch here, and welcome to The Guardian’s live coverage of the opening round of the 2026 Formula One campaign, emanating to you from a somewhat cloudy Melbourne.
It’s been a long build-up to the new campaign, one which reached a dramatic crescendo over the past fortnight when the United States and Israel’s attack on Iran spilled over into rocket and drone attacks and the shuttering of air space and cancellations of flights across the Middle East.
Not only did this disrupt preparations, but it also forced up to a thousand members of F1’s travelling roadshow to make new new travel arrangements that would enable them to land Down Under in time. Fortunately, pretty much all of them have.
The tour’s trip to albert park this year also marks the first time we’re seeing teams compete under the new, wide-ranging regulations in action that have been put in place for 2026: the cars made smaller in size and weight with the intent of making them more nimble facilitating improved racing and powered by new, hybrid engines.
We got our first look at these new beasts in action yesterday during FP1 and FP2, with the Mercedes-powered teams delivering on the expectations that they’ll be on the ones to beat by going fastest in FP2 (we’ll always have FP1, Ferrari). Much of the day’s events, however, where overshadowed by whatever the heck is going on at Aston Martin and the non-zero possibility that the cars might vibrate so hard they’ll send Fernando Alonso into the speed force if he pushes the car too hard.
And with qualification taking place today, we’ve got even more to look forward to. That starts at 4pm AEDT/5am GMT.
