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Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix 2026 - Race Weekend Discussion
Australian Grand Prix
Albert Park Circuit
March 6-8, 2026
Qualifying Results -- SPOILER
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:19.507 | 1:18.934 | 1:18.518 | 22 |
| 2 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:20.120 | 1:19.435 | 1:18.811 | 18 |
| 3 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | 1:20.023 | 1:19.653 | 1:19.303 | 19 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:20.226 | 1:19.357 | 1:19.327 | 24 |
| 5 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:19.664 | 1:19.525 | 1:19.380 | 26 |
| 6 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:20.010 | 1:19.882 | 1:19.475 | 26 |
| 7 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:19.811 | 1:19.921 | 1:19.478 | 25 |
| 8 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:20.491 | 1:20.144 | 1:19.994 | 24 |
| 9 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:20.409 | 1:19.971 | 1:21.247 | 25 |
| 10 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:20.495 | 1:20.221 | 14 | |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 1:21.024 | 1:20.303 | 18 | |
| 12 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 1:21.247 | 1:20.311 | 18 | |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | 1:20.759 | 1:20.491 | 18 | |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:21.138 | 1:20.501 | 18 | |
| 15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:21.051 | 1:20.941 | 19 | |
| 16 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:21.200 | 1:21.270 | 18 | |
| 17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:21.969 | 10 | ||
| 18 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 1:22.605 | 7 | ||
| 19 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1:23.244 | 8 |
Source: F1.com
Grand Prix Results -- SPOILER
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time / Retired | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 58 | 1:23:06.801 | 25 |
| 2 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 58 | +2.974s | 18 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 58 | +15.519s | 15 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 58 | +16.144s | 12 |
| 5 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 58 | +51.741s | 10 |
| 6 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 58 | +54.617s | 8 |
| 7 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | 57 | +1 lap | 6 |
| 8 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 57 | +1 lap | 4 |
| 9 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 57 | +1 lap | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 57 | +1 lap | 1 |
| 11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | 57 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 12 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 57 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 13 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 57 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 14 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 56 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 56 | +2 laps | 0 |
| 16 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | 55 | +3 laps | 0 |
| NC | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 43 | +15 laps | 0 |
| NC | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 21 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 15 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | 10 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 0 | DNS | 0 |
| NC | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | 0 | DNS | 0 |
Fastest Lap: Max Verstappen // 1:22.091 on lap 43
DOTD: Max Verstappen
Source: F1.com
Next race:
Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai International Circuit
March 13-15, 2026
IT'S RAWE CEEK! Welcome back to Formula 1, everyone! Hopefully everyone enjoyed the various holidays and having a normal sleep schedule on the weekends over the last few months. That said, I don't need F1 to mess with my weekend sleeping plans 😴
I meant to post earlier in the week about predictions for 2026, but I forgot/got busy/slept, so guess I'll just ask some here.
- Who will win this first race?
- Will our sole rookie this year, Arvin Lindblad (Racing Bulls), podium this year?
- Will Niko Hulkenberg get another podium?
- Will we hear Fernando Alonso scream about a "GP2 Engine" again?
- Which team wins the Constructors Championship?
- Does Lando Norris successfully defend his championship?
- If not, who wins the Drivers Championship?
Feel free to add any other predictions!
Qualifying was interesting.
Mercedes seems dominant.
Ferrari not terrible.
Glad to see a Red Bull 2nd driver who didn't qualify midfield.
Is Max's hand injured from his crash?
I like the livery of the Audi
The Audi did look slick on track. I know gloss gets a lot of love, but a well-executed matte finish, when most others are gloss, looks really fine. I'm also a sucker for a fairly simple, clean livery. Was really nice to see Bortoleto running so well, too. I'm sure he can deliver at a higher level than the cars he's driven in his F1 career so far.
Alright, that went better than expected! Though wasn't a great (pre-)start with Oscar binning it during the reconnaissance lap. Either way, we got a lot of battling and overtakes, especially between both Mercedes and both Ferrari drivers during the first half.
Glad to see the Red and White Bulls doing well still. Unfortunate for Hadjar with his DNF since he doing well, too. Big props to the sole rookie, Lindblad finishing within the Top 10 (P8)!
All weekend I've been hearing about the power issues, but I finally saw/heard it during the race. When Max was chasing down, I think, Lindblad on a straight, Max wasn't even at the braking point yet, but it sounded like the car's RPMs were already dropping. That was weird.
i think this will turn out to be a great cycle. for a first race that was predicted to have a lot of issues, it wasn’t too bad at all.
I hope AM got some good data from their drivers being let back in after a dozen laps each.
sorry about Oscar. i was/am hoping for him to get it this season if sharl or hammy can’t
Mclaren weren't turning any heads in this race, though, right? I mean Norris managed to hold off Verstappen, who was on a bit of a tear until then, I suppose, but it wasn't anything too dramatic, and I never had the impression that he was going to trouble the podium.
Pretty much. I saw an article this morning where McLaren is complaining a bit about Mercedes not sharing enough info with them. Guess they're back to being another customer team.
McLaren is back to humdrum customer team, it seems --- but that might change. I think the universe owes Oscar one, though. Maybe after Charles gets his this year and Lewis next year.
this is my favorite comment.
I'm just glad I no longer have to be embarrassed when wearing my Maclaren Honda Alonso cap from a decade ago.
Now you gotta get an AM Honda Alonso cap to even it out.
Wow. The cars are fast in new spots. They look sharp and smaller. The race direction looks good. More cars is fun and new. The order is mixed up.
This is looking like a fun season to watch.
I hope Aston can stabilize a bit for ALO's sake!
Since this is the first race of the year, here is a little meta discussion of how you can (legally) watch a race in the US.
This year you have to pay for Apple TV+ to watch F1. If you have an Apple TV device, you have two choices: You can continue to use the F1 app, or you can use the Apple TV app.
I tried the Apple TV app for F1 and it has a few advantages before you start watching the race. The advantages are that it's much clearer exactly when the events happen, it shows exactly when practice or qualifying or races will start, and in your local time. These things were sort of available in the F1 app but somehow not as clearly presented.
During the race, the Apple TV app has similar features where you can watch multiple streams at once, such as specific drivers or data or the International feed vs the F1 TV feed (what's called International on the Apple app is called Sky TV on the Apple App). The UI for this is quite different in the Apple app, and I found it a little more confusing, especially if you accidentally try to show more than two feeds it's hard to reduce the number you are watching.
Anyway, I will only be using the F1 app because the Apple app has ads. Ads are the bane of my existence and I simply try to avoid them at all times. While Apple is showing an ad for aws or whatever, the F1 app is just showing some scenes from around the track or having a little extra commentary.
Upon first use of the F1 app you have to link it to apple by logging in once. After that it's not a problem as far as I can tell.
I realized that the entire experience of watching F1 is seeing ads and logos on the tracks and on the cars and on the uniforms. But those are just background images which don't bother me as much as a full video of a talking gecko selling me insurance.
I don't watch F1 but my roommate does and just wanted to also mention that you get Apple TV+ for free if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve card! not sure if that's the only card that does that promotion but that's how my roommate is going to be watching this season apparently.