The 2026 Formula 1 season gets underway properly with the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix.
The new campaign is one of the most eagerly anticipated in years, as a major regulations overhaul sets up one of the most unpredictable seasons in F1 history.
Mercedes and George Russell have stunned its grid rivals, after a dominant display in qualifying saw the Briton lead a team 1-2 and leave its nearest competitor almost eight tenths behind.
As such, Mercedes starts the 2026 Australian Grand Prix as favourite to win.
Isack Hadjar has made a promising start to life as a Red Bull driver, as he took third in qualifying with the team's new in-house Ford-backed power unit.
The Frenchman's performance was a boost to Red Bull, after four-time world champion Max Verstappen crashed out during Q1 having not registered a lap.
Verstappen, who has been one of the most vocal critics of the new generation of cars, will go from the back of the grid.
Ferrari will line up fourth with Charles Leclerc, after a small issue in the final segment of qualifying hindered his charge. Ferrari engines proved rapid during practice starts in testing, making the Scuderia one to watch when the lights go out.
Team-mate Lewis Hamilton will launch from seventh on the grid, with reigning world champion Lando Norris sixth after suffering front wing damage due to striking debris during Q3.
The sister McLaren of home hero Oscar Piastri lines up fifth, while the top 10 is completed by Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and rookie Arvid Lindblad, and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto.
Russell leads Antonelli across the line as Mercedes return to the top in fine fashion
The new era of F1 begins, is this a new era of dominance for Mercedes?
Into the final lap and George Russell is on course for a convincing win, ahead of Kimi Antonelli
It's the 1-2 result many predicted, but perhaps not as dominant as feared.
Great result for Antonelli, who ran down in sixth early on.
A note on Ferrari - questions about its strategic decisions aside, this has been a very encouraging race for the Italian marque.
Whatever it has done to make that Ferrari streak off the line has worked a treat, but once in the mix both Leclerc and Hamilton look competitive in race trim too.
In conclusion, while Mercedes has the edge in clear air - albeit not by much - Ferrari has shown it can compete in the heat of battle and can lap consistently.
Closing stages now and Russell is managing the lead back to Antonelli - 4.3secs - as Mercedes romp towards a 1-2.
Leclerc and Hamilton are settled in third, though the Briton is keeping his team-mate honest having eaten the gap between them down to three seconds.
Norris is fifth and seemingly able to keep Verstappen at bay - chastening start to the year for both McLaren and Red Bull though
Bearman is on course for 'best of the rest' in seventh, ahead of Lindblad, who has shown a full range of talents today en route for a well deserved eighth (comms curse notwithstanding...)
Bortoleto is on course to give Audi points on its debut in what has been a very encouraging and competitive first weekend for the German marque
Gasly is still fending off Ocon - the pair have been swapping that final point for several laps and remain less than a second apart
Zak Brown is discussing Piastri's very premature exit from this race.
He says the team doesn't see any car-related issue that led to his sighting lap crash, though the man himself says the new cars contributed to the catastrophic error that dumped him out of his home event right at the top of the year long before it had even begun
One positive point to note from these regulations is how the cars are able to run a lot closer to one another it seems.
While disparity in the battery deployment has led to some DRS-like overtakes, the passes are definitely closer to the limit than they have previously been and come across as good, hard racing.
In short, it has made the racing look a lot closer than we have been used to when cars in front were powerless to respond to a DRS-open rival behind
As Verstappen/Norris shows, if we had DRS, the Dutchman would have easily overtaken by now. Right now, he can get close but Norris can defend too, and they are running comfortably within a second of one another for a longer period. Its enjoyable tense!
He hasn't quite surged onto the back of the McLaren but Verstappen is now on the tail of Norris with fresher rubber at his disposal
Keep an eye on Bortoleto - he is making rapid gains on Lindblad ahead of him after a second stop.
The gap is down to four seconds to eighth and if he can get the Briton, Bearman is also in range, a further 3.3s further up the road
Oscar Piastri has explained the cause of his sighting lap crash at the Australian GP
Verstappen is now the fastest driver on track - he is 1.7s behind Norris in their private battle for fifth place.
While fifth/sixth doesn't read like a classic Verstappen charge, in the context of the gulf between Red Bull and Mercedes/Ferrari it seems, it has been an impressive drive.
If Verstappen does get Norris, McLaren will ask questions as to how one of its drivers could finish behind one starting 20th without the benefit of a full safety car
Meanwhile, it seems Mercedes have settled on nursing their tyres to the end as the window for both Russell and Antonelli to come in and hunt down Leclerc/Hamilton has passed.
Seems to be a savvy move, Leclerc is nearly 10secs behind Antonelli right now, while Hamilton is another five seconds further back.
Raises questions of whether Ferrari made the right decision to leave its drivers out during the first VSC - at the very least, it ended what had been a thrilling battle between the drivers with plenty of lead changes over the first ten laps.
Verstappen pits from fifth place for a final roll of the dice, on hard tyres again
He comes back out behind Norris, but ahead of Bearman and Lindblad, in sixth
Bortoleto continues his charge to overtake Gasly to move back into ninth place as Ocon crawls over the back of the Alpine for what is the final point on offer
Bearman gets the better of Lindblad on the run into Turn 1, albeit not before the rookie Briton shows some gumption by squeezing him against the inside line.
Bearman gets its stopped into Turn 1 to take seventh before holding his countryman off into T3 and T4, and then again into the fast Turn 11.
Big battle lines being drawn between 9-10-11
Bortoleto - having dropped behind Gasly and Ocon - is now back ahead of the Haas into tenth place and a single point, next up Gasly
Norris is making quick gains after his pit-stop, dispatching of Bearman and quickly passing Lindblad too at the start of lap 39 - he is sixth
Both Alonso and now Stroll has pitted, seemingly to retire both Aston Martins - they were running well off the pace at the back.
16 drivers remain in this race.
DNFs for:
- Stroll, Alonso (technical)
- Bottas (technical)
- Hadjar (technical)
- Hulkenberg (did not start)
- Piastri (did not start after sighting lap crash)
Norris rejoins in eighth place, losing positions to Verstappen, Lindblad and Bearman
Norris dives for the pits for his second stop just as Verstappen gets spicy on his rear-wing
A third VSC of the race to recover debris on the run to Turn 11 - Perez's Cadillac has shed some bodywork
A quick bit of work by the marshals means we're back running after only around 25secs
Norris, meanwhile, has the idea of a one-stop floated to him and he flatly says 'not going to happen'
The McLaren driver is coming under pressure from Verstappen for fifth place - the Dutchman is squeezing performance out of those mediums even now
Antonelli counters Russell's belief that the tyres can go to the end - he says 'it's going to be brave'
The two Mercedes' pitted at the same time on Lap 13
It has been a disappointing race for Williams - both Albon and Sainz are running together, but well behind the fight for points in 12th and 13th
Perez is still going in the Cadillac, albeit a lap down on the leaders, while Aston Martin are running at the back, Stroll in 17th and Alonso in 18th, 12 laps behind after initially pitting with technical issues
Elsewhere, Lindblad is still well on course for points on his debut in seventh but is coming under pressure for that spot from a fellow young Briton in Bearman.
The Haas driver is having a quietly impressive outing in the Haas, as is Bortoleto, who sits a lonely ninth to put him on good course to score points for Audi on the team's F1 debut