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

George Russell took an imposing pole position as Mercedes dominated the first qualifying session of a new era of Formula 1 at the Australian Grand Prix. The Briton led team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 0.363 seconds and was 0.785secs clear of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar in third place. Max Verstappen crashed on his first lap to leave a degree of doubt as to the extent of Mercedes’ superiority, but it was an impressive start to a new period of regulations by the former champions. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest, with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris separating him from his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

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Hadjar promoted to Red Bull as Arvid Lindblad joins Racing Bulls for 2026

Red Bull will promote Frenchman Isack Hadjar to their senior team and hand 18-year-old Briton Arvid Lindblad a debut Formula 1 season in 2026. Lindblad, who has a Swedish father and a mother of Indian descent, will be team-mate to New Zealander Liam Lawson at second team Racing Bulls. The shuffling of Red Bull’s driver line-up sees Japanese Yuki Tsunoda lose his seat on the grid after five seasons.

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