05:16
7mins 29secs to go on the red flag, and here is the order so far
1 - Russell
2- Leclerc
3 - Piastri
4 - Lindblad
5 - Hamilton
6 - Hadjar
---------
17 - Perez
18 - Bottas
- Verstappen
- Antonelli
- Sainz
- Stroll
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
05:20
Q1 is go again
Back to green, just over seven minutes on the clock
05:14
Big surprise there as Verstappen leaves himself with a mighty job to do to climb up from the back of the field on Sunday... good news for fans, a Verstappen charge is always pure entertainment, less so for Red Bull.
It's also good news for Antonelli, the stoppage is giving Mercedes precious extra minutes to get him out before Q1 ends.
05:14
Max Verstappen delivers first major shock of qualifying in F1 2026!
05:13
Red flag - Max Verstappen crashes out
Well, who had that on their bingo card?!
Max Verstappen has dropped his Red Bull at the start of his first flying lap. The Dutchman loses it into Turn 1 very early, the Red Bull snapping on the brakes and it spins him across the gravel and into the barriers.
It's not a heavy hit but with Verstappen clambering out, that's his day run and he'll start towards the back of the grid
05:10
Lindblad lifts himself to second, another impressive showing from the rookie, while Hadjar also slots ahead of Bortoleto
05:08
Russell and Mercedes come out to play with a 1m 19.840s - more than six tenths clear.
Still waiting for both Red Bulls, plus the FP3-stricken trio of Antonelli, Sainz and Stroll to set a time
05:06
Early days but Bortoleto upsets the natural order with the quickest time so far from Piastri, Hamilton and Lindblad - 12mins to go
05:05
The McLaren still doesn't look entirely sorted in Norris' hands, the reigning champion getting all leery on the exit of Turn 3 as he heads off on a time attack
05:02
Nico Hulkenberg wins the race to the end of the pit lane to give Audi a welcome bit of air time at this early stage.
Could the German manufacturer mark its first ever F1 qualifying with a run to Q3... they're definitely in the mix and it would be quite the remarkable feat considering how new everything about this car is
05:00
Qualifying is GO
Here we go, qualifying for the opening round of the 2026 F1 season is underway
04:59
A quick bit of housekeeping ahead of this session - because we have two more cars on track, it will be six cars will be eliminated in Q1 and Q2 (instead of five).
04:50
The black screens are up at the Mercedes garage as the team perform emergency surgery on Antonelli's W17... thoughts and prayers
04:40
Elsewhere, Aston's woes continue with Stroll failing to make it out on track at all, his car in pieces in the garage.
On the plus side, the car appears to have leapfrogged Cadillac in terms of outright pace in Alonso's hands, but it's unclear if either car will be able to (or allowed) to complete the race.
Similarly, Williams were battling technical issues on both cars in FP3 - Sainz stopped on track and didn't get back out. Albon too came to a halt but had a quick fix.
On the other hand, the two new teams - Audi and Cadillac - are running reliably, with the former posting what seemed to be genuine top ten lap times in FP3
04:37
It wasn't all smiles at Mercedes though after Kimi Antonelli's big smash left the team with a lot of work to do before qualifying, but the Italian at least looked like he was also threatening the top positions.
Ferrari too can take encouragement into qualifying, looking competitive from the start of the session - something it rarely was in 2025 when it was reliant on the softs.
McLaren remain something of an unknown - Norris had a scruffy session hampered by traffic and little errors.
Red Bull too, prompting Radio Verstappen to return for 2026 in full ****ing swing. Happily for the team though, new driver Hadjar is right on the Dutchman's coattails - we haven't seen two Red Bulls in the mix at the same time for a while.
04:32
We should have known better than to question those clever people in the know that were predicting Mercedes would be the team to beat in Australia this weekend.
In what was probably the first genuine display of what Mercedes can do with its new car under these regulations, George Russell was a comfortably clear of the opposition in FP3.
It's what rivals have been saying all along and while a late stop and restart probably flattered the six-tenths gap between Russell and Hamilton in second, it suits the narrative that Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren have been claiming all winter
04:20
Countdown to Qualifying
We're back for live text coverage of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix - next up is Qualifying for the opening round of the season
03:06
Full FP3 Results
And that was that... three practice sessions complete, conclusions being drawn, but qualifying is where it matters.
That kicks off at 05.00 UK - and we'll be back for then.
In the meantime, here are the FULL FP3 RESULTS
02:56
Round up of FP3
- Mercedes proves it was sandbagging? George Russell appears to unleash the full strength of the Mercedes that rivals feared as he puts six tenths between himself and the opposition
- Hamilton and Leclerc put Ferrari in the mix in second and third, proving quick through the session
- Mixed bag for McLaren, Piastri in fourth, Norris looking scruffy in eighth
- Hadjar faster than Verstappen, the Dutchman on the radio in customary sweary style complaining of steering
- No time for Sainz after he stops on track, Stroll doesn't get on track at all
- Antonelli walks away from a big shunt on the exit of Turn 2
02:53
FP3 Top Ten
- Russell
- Hamilton
- Leclerc
- Piastri
- Hadjar
- Verstappen
- Antonelli
- Norris
- Bortoleto
- Bearman
02:52
Chequered flag
Russell will end this session quickest and by a huge margin.
Mixed fortunes for Mercedes overall with Antonelli's heavy crash, but that's a mighty big gap (+0.616s) by Russell and it seemed to come very easily too.
02:51
Russell notwithstanding, there aren't too many improvements as the chequered flag falls but Hadjar goes fifth, Verstappen sixth.
Norris only eighth with his first and last proper time attack of the session
02:51
Russell unleashes Mercedes pace
Russell completes what he started as he jumps to the top of the timesheets with a 1m 19.053secs - seven tenths quicker than the previous best.
And with a slower S1 than Leclerc... that Mercedes has a lot of power to deploy as the lap continues
02:48
It's a slow exit for the drivers at the front as they attempt to get some space on track - might spell bad news for those stuck at the back of the queue to get around in time for a time attack
02:46
FP3 back underway - 4mins on the clock
The session will restart, with four minutes on the clock.
Cue a very expensive traffic jam in the pit-lane.