George Russell claimed victory in the 2026 season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the Brit leading team mate Kimi Antonelli to secure a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of the Ferrari duo in an action-packed event that saw the Silver Arrows make one-stop strategy work to their favour.
A thrilling start to the race saw Charles Leclerc surge forwards from P4 on the grid, seizing the lead from Russell before the two continued to swap positions over the next few laps.
Both Mercedes cars subsequently pitted when a Virtual Safety Car was deployed due to Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar pulling off the track – while the Ferrari’s opted to stay out.
Another VSC phase followed due to the retirement of Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, during which Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton again remained out on track.
When the Scuderia’s drivers later made their stops, Russell and Antonelli returned to the front – leading to questions over how each team’s strategy calls would unfold, given that Ferrari looked likely to run until the end of the race while Mercedes may have to stop again.
Despite their ageing tyres, the Silver Arrows appeared to be staying out until the chequered flag, with the Scuderia pair having not closed in enough to pressure the leading duo into making another stop – and the plan worked, with Russell crossing the line 2.9s ahead of Antonelli to secure a sixth career victory.
The full top 10 are- P1: Russell, P2: Antonelli, P3: Leclerc, P4: Hamilton, P5: Norris, P6: Verstappen, P7: Bearman, P8: Lindblad, P9: Bortoleto and P10: Gasly.
What a result for the Mercedes duo! Just how they would’ve wanted to start the season, a flawless drive from Russell, cool, calm and collected! As for Antonelli, he lost a few positions at the start but still done well to bring it back and on the podium.
A great result for Ferrari! P3 for Leclerc, and P4 for Hamilton, I must say it’s nice to see them back near the top, they had a little fight with the Mercs at the start but they couldn’t bring it to them as much due to the strategy and not pitting. But they are probably the closest to the Mercs at the minute!
An okay result for the reigning world champion, Norris, didn’t see much of him but kept the Red Bull of Verstappen at bay. But the Brit did well to keep his spot and score some vital points.
As for his teammate, Oscar Piastri…. how unfortunate he crashed on the way to the grid especially at his home grand prix, not the start to the season he and McLaren would’ve wanted…
As for Verstappen, what a drive! To come back from 20th, it was damage limitation to score some points and that is what he done. As for his teammate, the Albert Park curse continues for Hadjar, which is so sad as he qualified so well to then be out of the race due to reliability issues is unfortunate. But they way he kept up with the teams and qualified is SO promising for Red Bull.
Points for Bearman! What a drive from him, kept it out of trouble and started the season strong with Haas scoring valuable points!
Now our only rookie this year, Arvid Lindblad, what a debut weekend from him! Qualifying in the top 10 and then going on to score points, now that is how you make an entrance!
Now our next race isn’t too far away… It’s this weekend, and we are heading to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix!
Jordan's Track Talk 
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