This Sunday (8), Briton George Russell won the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the new Formula 1 season, held on the Melbourne circuit. The Mercedes driver led a clear dominance of the German team, finishing ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Starting from pole position After mastering the qualification, Russell resisted a very competitive start with Ferrari’s Monegasque Charles Leclerc. In the first nine laps, the two drivers exchanged the lead seven times, leading to an intense duel at the start of the race.
The test ended up deciding on strategy. After entering a period of virtual safety carcaused by the withdrawal of Isack Hadjar (Red Bull), Mercedes immediately called its two drivers to the pits to change medium tires for hard tires. The decision allowed them to complete the remaining 45 laps without stopping again and gain a decisive advantage.
Russell ended up crossing the finish line with almost three seconds of advantage over Antonelli, guaranteeing Mercedes’ first victory in Melbourne since 2019, and soon a double. Leclerc finished third, more than 15 seconds behind, hampered by Ferrari’s strategy, which chose to extend the first set of tires.
The Monegasque’s teammate in the Italian team, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, was fourth, after momentarily leading the race. Current world champion Lando Norris, from McLaren, finished fifth.
As for four-time champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull), he recovered from 20th place on the grid, after an accident in qualifying, to finish sixth.
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