Round 1 · 8 Mar 2026

Australian Grand Prix

2026-03-08_Race · 58 laps · 22 entries · from the f1 database

Executive summary

George Russell (Mercedes) won from pole by 2.974 s over Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), with Charles Leclerc third— Max Verstappen set the fastest lap (1:22.091 on L43, on new hards).

The start-compound split: ALO/SAI on softs, 15 drivers on mediums, BOT/COL/VER on hards. The biggest pit wave came on lap 11 — 3 cars stopping together. The race was shaped by a lap-12 VSC, a lap-18 VSC and a lap-34 VSC, with ≈6 laps run under caution.

RUS did not lead wire-to-wire: the lead changed hands 3 times, with LEC (laps 3–24) and HAM (laps 25–27). 6 DNFs: STR (lap 43, stopped on track), ALO (lap 21, DNF in the pits), BOT (lap 15, DNF in the pits — brought out the VSC), HAD (lap 10, DNF in the pits — brought out the VSC), PIA (first-lap crash), HUL (lap-1 pit DNF). RUS leads the championship on 25 points, 7 clear with 598 points still available in 22 rounds.

Official race poster for the Australian Grand Prix 2026

Key facts

Winner

RUS

+2.974 s

Fastest lap

VER

1:22.091 L43

Lead changes

4 stints in front

Cautions

0 SC · 3 VSC

red flag ×0

DNFs

STR, ALO, BOT, HAD, PIA, HUL

Championship

RUS

leads by 7 pts

Session timeline

Local	Lap	Event
14:01	1	2 Yellow flag
14:05	1	2 Yellow flag
14:05	1	2 Yellow flag
14:07	1	2 Yellow flag
14:08	1	2 Yellow flag
14:20	1	GREEN LIGHT - PIT EXIT OPEN
14:21	1	2 Yellow flag
14:21	1	2 Yellow flag
14:30	1	PIT EXIT CLOSED
14:40	1	2 Yellow flag
14:45	1	RISK OF RAIN FOR THE F1 RACE IS 0%
15:03	1	GREEN LIGHT - PIT EXIT OPEN
15:19	12	6 VSC deployed
15:23	13	7 VSC ending
15:29	18	2 Yellow flag
15:29	18	6 VSC deployed
15:32	20	7 VSC ending
15:52	34	6 VSC deployed
15:52	34	7 VSC ending
16:26	58	CHEQUERED FLAG

Merged from TrackStatus transitions and race control messages · times local (UTC+11) · lap attribution from the winner's lap completions

Lap-time progression

Click legend entries to isolate drivers · scroll/zoom inside the chart · every lap is drawn · y-axis spans fastest lap → fastest +30%, slower laps clip at the top

Race progress

Grid position (lap 0) → final standing · P1 at the top · a driver's line stops where they went out (DNF) · click legend entries to isolate drivers

Tyre strategies & pit stops

Fastest stationary stops

#	Driver	Lap	Stop	Lane	via
1	RUS	12	2.3 s	17.8 s	stop feed
2	ALB	33	2.5 s	18.4 s	stop feed
3	BOR	18	2.8 s	18.9 s	series
4	COL	46	2.9 s	18.6 s	stop feed
5	PER	43	3.2 s	19.0 s	stop feed
6	BEA	18	3.3 s	18.8 s	stop feed
7	STR	11	16.9 s	36.7 s	stop feed
8	SAI	45	19.8 s	34.6 s	stop feed

Median stationary stop 3.2 s over 8 timed stops in the feeds. The three pit feeds overlap and miss a few cars — stop counts in the classification table are from live timing and authoritative; timings here are best-effort merges.

0 drivers started on intermediates; the biggest pit wave came on lap 11 (3 cars) — the simultaneous compound switch is visible across the field.

Corner analysis

Average speed by position around the lap — RUS vs ANT, laps 21–30 (shared clean window), car positions normalised per lap from the start/finish line; C-labels are auto-detected apexes.

RUS is quicker through 74 of 120 track segments vs ANT (37 to ANT); biggest edges: RUS +37 km/h at 94% distance, ANT +19 km/h at 79%.

Penalties & steward decisions

Lap	Car	Decision / message
1	27 HUL	INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 27 (HUL) NOTED - STARTING PROCEDURE INFRINGEMENT
1	27 HUL	FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 27 (HUL) UNDER INVESTIGATION - STARTING PROCEDURE INFRINGEMENT
1	27 HUL	FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 27 (HUL) NO FURTHER ACTION - STARTING PROCEDURE INFRINGEMENT
1	43 COL	INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 43 (COL) NOTED - STARTING PROCEDURE INFRINGEMENT
1	43 COL	FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 43 (COL) UNDER INVESTIGATION - STARTING PROCEDURE INFRINGEMENT
6	10 GAS	CAR 10 (GAS) TIME 1:27.040 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 10 LAP 5 15:10:17
7	5 BOR	CAR 5 (BOR) TIME 1:27.463 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 3 LAP 6 15:11:11
8	43 COL	PenaltyFIA STEWARDS: STOP-AND-GO PENALTY FOR CAR 43 (COL) - STARTING PROCEDURE INFRINGEMENT
9	16 LEC	TURN 11 INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 16 (LEC) NOTED
10	16 LEC	FIA STEWARDS: TURN 11 INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 16 (LEC) REVIEWED NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION
13	43 COL	FIA STEWARDS: PENALTY SERVED - STOP-AND-GO PENALTY FOR CAR 43 (COL) - STARTING PROCEDURE INFRINGEMENT
18	23 ALB	CAR 23 (ALB) TIME 1:28.434 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 3 LAP 16 15:26:48
21	11 PER+30 LAW	TURN 11 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 11 (PER) AND 30 (LAW) NOTED - FORCING ANOTHER DRIVER OFF THE TRACK
22	30 LAW	CAR 30 (LAW) TIME 1:29.919 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 3 LAP 16 15:26:58
23	31 OCO+10 GAS	TURN 3 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 31 (OCO) AND 10 (GAS) NOTED
23	11 PER+30 LAW	FIA STEWARDS: TURN 11 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 11 (PER) AND 30 (LAW) UNDER INVESTIGATION - FORCING ANOTHER DRIVER OFF THE TRACK
24	31 OCO+10 GAS	FIA STEWARDS: TURN 3 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 31 (OCO) AND 10 (GAS) UNDER INVESTIGATION
25	31 OCO	INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 31 (OCO) NOTED - DRIVING UNNECESSARILY SLOWLY
26	11 PER+30 LAW	FIA STEWARDS: TURN 11 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 11 (PER) AND 30 (LAW) NO FURTHER ACTION - FORCING ANOTHER DRIVER OFF THE TRACK
27	11 PER	INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 11 (PER) NOTED - IGNORING BLUE FLAGS
30	31 OCO	FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 31 (OCO) WILL BE INVESTIGATED AFTER THE RACE - DRIVING UNNECESSARILY SLOWLY
33	31 OCO+10 GAS	FIA STEWARDS: TURN 3 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 31 (OCO) AND 10 (GAS) NO FURTHER ACTION
35	11 PER	FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 11 (PER) REVIEWED NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION - IGNORING BLUE FLAGS
56	55 SAI	CAR 55 (SAI) TIME 1:27.961 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 3 LAP 53 16:21:48

Championship state

RUS leads the championship on 25 points, 7 clear with 598 points still available in 22 rounds.

Drivers

Pos	Driver	Team	Points	This race	Model
1	RUS	Mercedes	25	+25	25
2	ANT	Mercedes	18	+18	18
3	LEC	Ferrari	15	+15	15
4	HAM	Ferrari	12	+12	12
5	NOR	McLaren	10	+10	10
6	VER	Red Bull Racing	8	+8	8
7	BEA	Haas F1 Team	6	+6	6
8	LIN	Racing Bulls	4	+4	4
9	BOR	Audi	2	+2	2
10	GAS	Alpine	1	+1	1
11	OCO	Haas F1 Team	0	+0	0
12	ALB	Williams	0	+0	0
13	LAW	Racing Bulls	0	+0	0
14	COL	Alpine	0	+0	0
15	SAI	Williams	0	+0	0
16	PER	Cadillac	0	+0	0
17	HAD	Red Bull Racing	0	+0	0
17	STR	Aston Martin	0	+0	0
18	PIA	McLaren	0	+0	0
19	HUL	Audi	0	+0	0
20	ALO	Aston Martin	0	+0	0
21	BOT	Cadillac	0	+0	0

Constructors

Pos	Team	Drivers	Points	This race	Model
1	Mercedes	ANT · RUS	43	+43	43
2	Ferrari	HAM · LEC	27	+27	27
3	McLaren	NOR · PIA	10	+10	10
4	Red Bull Racing	HAD · VER	8	+8	8
5	Haas F1 Team	BEA · OCO	6	+6	6
6	Racing Bulls	LAW · LIN	4	+4	4
7	Audi	BOR · HUL	2	+2	2
8	Alpine	COL · GAS	1	+1	1
9	Cadillac	BOT · PER	0	+0	0
10	Aston Martin	ALO · STR	0	+0	0
11	Williams	ALB · SAI	0	+0	0

Standings snapshots at this round from the feed (constructors = driver points summed per team they scored them for) · Model = live projection's final predicted points

Weather conditions

Classification

Pos	Driver	Team	Grid	Gap	Stops	Best lap	Tyre	Pts
1	RUS	Mercedes	1	—	1	1:22.670 L21	HHard	25
2	ANT	Mercedes	2	+2.974	1	1:22.417 L57	HHard	18
3	LEC	Ferrari	4	+15.519	1	1:22.579 L38	HHard	15
4	HAM	Ferrari	7	+16.144	1	1:22.423 L55	HHard	12
5	NOR	McLaren	6	+51.741	2	1:22.358 L53	MMedium	10
6	VER	Red Bull Racing	20	+54.617	2	1:22.091 L43	HHard	8
7	BEA	Haas F1 Team	12	1L	1	1:24.020 L22	HHard	6
8	LIN	Racing Bulls	9	1L	1	1:24.182 L21	HHard	4
9	BOR	Audi	10	1L	2	1:23.257 L45	HHard	2
10	GAS	Alpine	14	1L	1	1:24.486 L56	HHard	1
11	OCO	Haas F1 Team	13	1L	1	1:24.424 L25	HHard	0
12	ALB	Williams	15	1L	2	1:24.375 L36	SSoft	0
13	LAW	Racing Bulls	8	1L	2	1:23.783 L47	SSoft	0
14	COL	Alpine	16	2L	2	1:22.926 L48	SSoft	0
15	SAI	Williams	21	2L	3	1:23.590 L52	SSoft	0
16	PER	Cadillac	18	3L	2	1:26.070 L47	SSoft	0
DNF	STR	Aston Martin	22	15L	4	1:25.410 L36	SSoft	0
DNF	ALO	Aston Martin	17	37L	3	1:25.713 L15	SSoft	0
DNF	BOT	Cadillac	19	43L	1	1:27.364 L8	HHard	0
DNF	HAD	Red Bull Racing	3	48L	-	1:25.239 L9	MMedium	0
DNF	PIA	McLaren	5	-	-	-	-	0
DNF	HUL	Audi	11	-	-	-	HHard	0