Russell storms to pole as Mercedes lock-out front row in Melbourne

George Russell sealed pole position for the first race of the season in Australia, beating Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar’s efforts while Max Verstappen suffered an unexpected early exit.

The Mercedes driver established his spot at the top early on, dominating throughout each segment of Qualifying before posting a stunning final lap of 1:18.518s to establish a major advantage over the rest of the field.

Antonelli was second to polish off a superb day for the Brackley outfit, while Hadjar shone on his Red Bull debut to claim third place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and home hero Oscar Piastri.

A tough session for reigning World Champion Lando Norris left him to line up in P6, besting the attempts of Lewis Hamilton and Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad. After impressing with his Q2 time to squeeze through to Q3, Gabriel Bortoleto was ruled out of the final shootout due to a technical issue on his in-lap, leaving him in P10.

The second Audi of Nico Hulkenberg missed the cut for Q2, as did Haas’ Ollie Bearman, who will start the Australian Grand Prix in P12 ahead of his team mate Esteban Ocon.

Despite some strong showing in pre-season testing, both Alpine drivers departed Q2 in 14th and 16th place, with Pierre Gasly edging out Franco Colapinto. Alex Albon, the only Williams to partake in the session, split the two to take P15.

The shock story from Q1 was a major crash for Red Bull’s Verstappen, who went careering into the barrier at the beginning of a flying lap. He was fortunately unharmed and reported over the radio: “The car just locked on the rear axle. Fantastic.”

Colapinto’s late effort demoted Fernando Alonso to P17, while the Cadillac pair of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were also knocked out in 18th and 19th respectively. They will line up ahead of Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Lance Stroll, with the latter two not partaking in Qualifying at all.

Q1

After the three eventful practice sessions forced the drivers to get to grips with the new cars rapidly, attention switched to the Qualifying hour, with question marks remaining over whether Antonelli would take part following extensive damage to his car in FP3.

With the addition of Cadillac on the grid, the updated Qualifying format would see six cars eliminated in Q1 and Q2 before the usual top-10 shootout in Q3. It was the second new name, Audi, who were first out on track, Hulkenberg seeking to escape Q1 for the opening round.

The majority of the early runners elected to bolt on the soft tyres, and it was the second Audi of Bortoleto who initially shot to the top of the timesheets ahead of Piastri, while Hamilton tucked into P3 on the alternative medium compound.

As Russell joined the action – the Mercedes driver having topped FP3 earlier in the day – he eclipsed Bortoleto’s time by a colossal six-tenths, becoming the first driver to break into the 1:19s bracket to solidify his status as one of the favourites for pole.

The battle to get close to the Briton’s benchmark came to a head when Verstappen hit the brakes at Turn 1 and locked the rear axle, sending him rattling over the gravel before ending up in the barrier to bring his first Qualifying of 2026 to an unexpectedly premature end. With significant damage to his Red Bull, the session was halted and the pit exit closed under red flag conditions.

What was devastating for the Dutchman was a blessing for Antonelli as the additional time from the break helped Mercedes to finish their repairs with a handful of minutes remaining, but he was quickly noted for a pit lane infringement.

Back at the front of the field, his team mate’s effort of 1:19.840s was edged out by Hamilton, still on medium tyres, before Russell came fighting back to reclaim P1. Piastri’s lap saw him slot between the pair while Norris and Hadjar completed the top five, with Antonelli progressing in sixth place.

A frustrating weekend for Aston Martin culminated in Alonso being narrowly knocked out in 17th. He will start ahead of the Cadillac duo of Perez and Bottas, with the Finn being the last of those who set flying laps.

Verstappen was unable to post a representative time, leaving him to bring up the rear alongside Sainz and Stroll, both of whom were stuck in their respective garages for the duration of Qualifying.

Knocked out: Alonso, Perez, Bottas, Verstappen, Sainz, Stroll

Q2

Qualifying had already proven itself to be unpredictable, so it was no surprise that everyone was eager to make the most of Q2 and head out early, with Russell’s opening effort of 1:18.934s once again outshining those of his competitors.

The opening round of flying laps were more of a challenge for Ferrari as Hamilton backed out of his first attempt to let Leclerc through. While the Briton returned to the pits, Leclerc was only able to take P7 and his team mate was left with just six minutes to post an improved time.

He managed to jump up to sixth place as Russell’s lap time appeared to be unassailable – Antonelli in second still found himself five-tenths adrift, with Piastri marginally further behind. After his underwhelming first laps, Leclerc found the time he needed and demoted Antonelli to P3.

Eye-catching laps from Racing Bulls drivers Lindblad and Lawson saw them both progress to Q3 with Bortoleto, who beat his team mate to make Hulkenberg the first one eliminated. He will start the Grand Prix ahead of Haas pair Bearman and Ocon, with both Alpine cars similarly knocked out in 14th and 16th, led by Gasly. Separating them was Albon, who could only manage 15th after a late error.

Knocked out: Hulkenberg, Bearman, Ocon, Gasly, Albon, Colapinto

Q3

Q3 got underway with a bang as Lindblad suffered a near-miss at the pit entry, locking up and nearly colliding with those near him. That was followed by a technical issue for Bortoleto, who was ultimately unable to set a time in Q3 and caused a short delay to the session start as he was wheeled back to his garage.

With the Audi ruled out, what was now a top-nine shootout was brought to another halt as Antonelli pulled out of the pits with the cooling fans still in his sidepods, which subsequently fell off on the track – Norris then ploughed over it, with a red flag needed to clear the debris.

Once the circuit was deemed safe, the contest for pole position kicked off, with the Mercedes drivers leading the pack. While Antonelli locked up and went off at Turn 3, Russell’s strong performance continued as he took P1 with a 1:19.084s, marginally slower than his best lap of the session.

After an early deployment problem, Norris settled into P2 with his first flying lap, albeit over 0.5s adrift of the Mercedes and barely ahead of the sole remaining Red Bull of Hadjar. Neither Ferrari driver had set a representative lap in the opening part of Q3, leaving plenty still to be decided on the final laps.

Antonelli’s error was forgotten as he leapt to top spot with a 1:18.811s on soft tyres, but Russell stormed through to go nearly three-tenths faster – a time that proved impossible to beat.

Hadjar claimed a spectacular P3 ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, with reigning champion Norris forced to settle for sixth place. Hamilton ended the session in P7 ahead of Lawson and Lindblad, with Bortoleto rounding out the top 10.

The 2026 Australian Grand Prix is set to begin at 15:00 local time on Sunday (04:00 GMT). Mercedes look to be a step above the field but race starts remain a great unknown. Last season’s curtain raiser was drama filled will tomorrow bring more fireworks?