06:07
Big impact for Norris there!
Max Verstappen crashed in Q1
F1 Australian Grand Prix qualifying as it happened
Live coverage of final practice and qualifying at the 2026 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Q1 red-flagged after Max Verstappen crash
- Russell laid a marker with his final session-topping FP3 effort
- Mercedes is racing against time to repair Antonelli's heavily damaged car
- Aston Martin woes continue
The 2026 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix continues on Saturday, with the first qualifying session of the year taking place.
The new campaign began on Friday with two hours of practice, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri delighting the home crowd with the fastest time of the day.
He led the Mercedes duo of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, who remain for many on the grid as the favourites for victory at the start of the new season.
However, it wasn't a smooth Friday for Mercedes, who admitted to power unit issues during the first practice session. Ferrari and Red Bull also look like they will be in the mix with McLaren and Mercedes in the battle for pole.
Aston Martin's nightmare start to the year continued on Friday, as battery problems severely limited its running. Team boss Adrian Newey admitted on Friday morning that Aston is down to just two batteries - one for each car - and without any spares available from Honda to be shipped over.
Its participation across Saturday's action, and indeed into the race on Sunday, remains uncertain.
Saturday's action kicks off with the final hour of free practice, with a chaotic qualifying expected amid concerns about the amount of energy harvesting teams will need to be doing due to the battery demands placed on the new power units at Albert Park.
Qualifying will see a slightly tweaked format for 2026, owing to the addition of an 11th team in the form of Cadillac bringing the total number of cars on track up to 22.
As such, six drivers will now be eliminated from Q1 and six from Q2, with the 10 fastest drivers progressing to Q3 to battle for the first pole position of the new season.
2026 F1 Australian Grand Prix Saturday schedule
FP3 - 1:30-2:30 GMT
Qualifying - 5:00-6:00 GMT
07 Mar 2026
06:07
Norris returns to the pit lane as McLaren team members furiously search around the front-end for any potential damage - quite a show of how much force an F1 car makes that he can run over a heavy tool and absolutely obliterate it.
06:06
Bit of an awkward mistake by Mercedes, its second of the session with Antonelli after a team member was noted for crossing the white line in the pit lane.
While this second infraction - which has been noted too - focuses more on a team penalty rather than a driver one, having two in one session isn't a good look for the form team.
06:04
Red flag
The session has been stopped after Antonelli exits the pit lane with the cooling jets still attached to his sidepods
After shedding them again between T2 and T3, there is debris on course.
And Norris strikes one them with his left front tyre, shattering it into even more pieces
05:59
Q3 is go
Who will be on pole?
It appears to be Mercedes' to lose...
05:59
Audi update on Bortoleto
"Gabriel encountered a technical issue during his in-lap at the end of Q2. As a result, he will not be able to take part in Q3. The team is investigating the issue."
05:56
Unfortunately for Audi, having gotten into the Q3, Bortoleto has slowed to a stop on the entry to the pit lane with apparent technical issues - if he can't get it going again, that'll be the end of qualifying for driver and team.
On another note, his slow entry blocked Lawson behind him, which in turn nearly caught Lindblad out, who came steaming through the blind bend to find his team-mate crawling in front of him.
A bit of heavy anchors and quick steering allows Lindblad to slither up a small gap between his team-mate and the wall
05:53
Heading into Q3, Mercedes consolidates its position as the team to beat, especially Russell, who is lapping in a different postcode to the others.
Both Mercedes, Ferraris and McLarens through, unsurprisingly, with Hadjar doing his bit to fly the Red Bull flag after Verstappen's crash and Q1 elimination.
Props to Racing Bulls for getting both cars into Q3, not least rookie Lindblad, but also Lawson, who has flown under the radar this weekend so far but is coming good when it matters.
And of course Audi, a superb result for the team on its debut with Bortoleto
05:52
Eliminated after Q2
11. Hulkenberg
12. Bearman
13. Ocon
14. Gasly
15. Albon
16. Colapinto
05:51
A wild run across the grass at T1 for Albon ends his interest in Q2 and with Ocon not gaining, it means Bortoleto and Audi reach Q3.
A superb performance by the German marque on its debut
Russell, Leclerc, Antonelli, Piastri and Hadjar top five
05:50
Chequered flag - end of Q2
Bortoleto has displaced Hulkenberg in tenth place (for now) and that is it for the Hulk... can the Brazilian hold on to give Audi a Q3 on its debut?
05:49
Leclerc hooks up a strong lap to split the Mercedes' in second place
05:48
Both McLarens have completed their fast runs but neither Piastri or Norris - currently third and fifth - improve
Bortoleto, Ocon, Gasly, Bearman, Albon and Colapinto fighting to stay in this qualifying session with 90secs to go
05:47
Hamilton and Hulkenberg pull themselves out of the drop zone in sixth and tenth respectively
Antonelli lifts a spot to second to resume the Mercedes 1-2
05:45
Five minutes to go and the drop zone features
11. Gasly
12. Bearman
13. Albon
14. Hulkenberg
15. Colapinto
16. Hamilton
05:42
Hamilton yet to set a representative time - he has started two quick laps and been very rapid on both, but hasn't completed them at pace yet.
7mins to go and Russell leads Piastri, Antonelli, Hadjar, Norris and Lindblad
05:40
Four minutes in and the first fast laps are flooding through - it's an early Mercedes 1-2 with Russell leading Antonelli.
Russell is the first driver into the 1m 18secs - six tenths up on Antonelli, nearly a second quicker than third place Norris
05:35
Q2 is go
Time to decide our top ten qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Antonelli is under investigation for a qualifying infringement, but it will be investigated after the session
05:35
Aston update on Stroll
Aston Martin has provided an update on why Lance Stroll sat out Q1 in Australia.
"Lance’s car was not ready for qualifying. There was not enough time to rebuild the car after the issues this morning."
05:31
Fantastic job by Mercedes to rebuild Antonelli's very damaged car in little more than 2 hours, even better effort by the Italian to put it right out of his head and get right back on it with his first and only flying lap
05:29
Eliminated after Q1
17. Alonso
18. Perez
19. Bottas
20. Verstappen (no time)
21. Sainz (no time)
22. Stroll (no time)
05:28
Colapinto is still on track bidding to spoil Alonso and Aston Martin's little win of getting into Q2.
And the Argentine does knock Alonso out
05:27
Chequered flag - end of Q1
The flag falls and the fight is on to stay out of the drop zone.
It'll definitely be both Cadillacs, but Perez three seconds off the top spot isn't a bad showing.
05:26
Now Piastri hits the top spot, only for Russell to better his time to return to first, just under two tenths clear of the Aussie.
Elsewhere, Leclerc gets it wrong on his fast lap with a lock up into T3, but he looks safe in fifth
Colapinto, Perez, Bottas in the drop zone, along with the stricken Verstappen, Sainz and Stroll - that means Alonso, right now might get into Q2, which would be a big win for Aston Martin
05:24
Hamilton usurps Russell by +0.029s as Antonelli - who is at last back on track - jumps to third