F1. Australia 2026 Review

By Scott McLean, Gavin Huet, Chelsea Wintle, and Aiden McLaughlin

Driver of the Weekend
Scott: Kimi Antonelli. From his team leaving the cooling fans in the sidepods in practice (cue USD$7,500 fine), to crashing, to barely making it into Q1; to wind up second on the grid and in the race behind his teammate is nothing short of remarkable. And belies the fact he’s still a teenager.

Chelsea: George Russell, start to finish. Russell and Merecedes were always the favourites to dominate early this season, but that shouldn’t diminish the achievement – he and teammate Antonelli locked out the front row in qualifying, and Russell drove calmly and steadily against a series of impressive challenges by Charles Leclerc. For a man who I often feel might burst into tears at any moment, he drove with a ballast that sets him up well for the season. Bonus points to young Arvid Lindblad, who was genuinely impressive in his first outing, giving the radio a good spray when there was a hold-up in the pit lane, and even faring the best in the 2026 opening credits (who let Kimi Antonelli do the shaka?).

Aiden: Arvid Lindblad has big wraps on him and you can see why. With Isack Hadjar’s promotion to Red Bull, the 18-year-old has replaced him at Racing Bulls and got off to a flyer. Starting at P9 was impressive, finishing P8 even more so. In his media obligations he seemed calm, confident and assured. Liam Lawson has a teammate to be reckoned with.

Gavin: George Russell. We expected George and his Mercedes to be the combination to dominate and the result speaks for itself. I think he mastered the requirements to get the most out of his car on the track both in qualifying and the race. While others were still trying to understand the purpose of all the Knight Rider buttons on the steering wheel, George was already maximising their use. No surprises that he is happy with the regulations and the car.

Talking Point
Scott: Aston Martin. At least they went further into the race than pundits expected, but to see an established team this far behind the rest (new boys Cadillac excepted) is somewhat galling. Can they even sort out the issues with the Honda power unit?

Chelsea: An Australian driver has never won the Australian Grand Prix, and this year Oscar Piastri didn’t even allow his fans the dubious pleasure of race start anxiety. The plodding pleasure of the pre-race snack bowl compilation was rudely interrupted by Piastri hitting his wall on his way to the grid – not even making it to the formation lap. The weekend was always going to have its share of disasters with new rules bedding in, and the top drivers were no exception – Max Verstappen similarly wiped out in qualifying; Antonelli in practice. The Betoota Advocate made a well-placed joke about Melburnians and their kooky hook turns, and Piastri probably didn’t even need a shower – weekend over.

Aiden: Like anything new in F1, the 2026 set of regulations is causing plenty of division, often depending on who you align yourself with. Mercedes and George Russell are delighted, Max Verstappen is not. Lando Norris is down in the dumps, Lewis Hamilton is rediscovering his mojo. Things will settle down but at the moment, it’s a case of giving everything a a chance and seeing where it all lands.

Gavin: It was the first race under the new regulations so of course there are glitches and gremlins everywhere. Aston Martin have had a big wake up call, McLaren need to figure out why their Mercedes engine isn’t as good as the works team, Williams are in a worse spot than last season, and even Mercedes arrived on the starting grid with no battery. Ferrari looked decent but zigged when arguably they should have zagged (well, some things don’t change) but even that was not as clear-cut as some would argue. I think changing the regulations to give us all of these things every now and then is a good thing.

Gossip Time
Scott: Not much. Which isn’t unexpected given the new regs. But strategy etc aside there’ll be chat about Liam Lawson, and exactly which teams went to the FIA asking about the DRS into Turn 9. The latter’s flip-flop about their decision didn’t help either.

Chelsea: I was only just starting to get excited about Aston Martin when I was told not to get too excited about Aston Martin. The much-heralded arrival of design supergenius Adrian Newey appears to have been slightly too late for the 2026 regulation change, and development is well behind. Christian Horner ruins everything. Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were in and out of the race, but eventually out, having slogged their way through as many laps as they could without causing permanent nerve damage to their hands. It will be a long, arduous season for almost-46-year-old Alonso, who perhaps should invest in a deck chair with extra padding.

Aiden: Plenty of observers seem to doubt Max Verstappen when he says F1 is something he can leave behind pretty easily. Others think he’ll jump ship to Mercedes in 2028 if they continue to have the best car. I personally think he’s more likely to chuck the sport in if he doesn’t enjoy this season. He’s loud and proud about what he thinks about the new cars and it’s just been announced that he’s taking part in the Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race in-between the Miami and Canadian Grand Prix in mid-May. He wants to do things that challenge him and that he enjoys. Watch this space.

Gavin: News outlets, it is no longer a story when a teenager drives in F1 before they have a bog standard driver’s licence. It was relevant when it first happened, it is not relevant now. Please stop.

Looking Ahead
Scott: More of the same. Teams trying to get their heads around the new regs with a full race weekend of data to pour through, more “technical” failures during the race weekend, and more of George Russell getting out of his Mercedes looking totally unflustered looking like Colin Firth as Mr D’arcy in Pride and Prejudice.

Chelsea: I sound a bit grumbly but it isn’t so. The race was entertaining, and a mixture of the new (so much overtaking!) and the old (Ferrari strategy where?). The confounding algorithm around battery conservation and exploitation will be a season-long battle for some teams. Cadillac had one driver complete the race, when they anticipated two DNFs. James Vowels hasn’t been fired yet. Only five sleeps until the next one!

Aiden: It’s a quick turnaround to China this week, which doesn’t leave much time for teams and drivers to take in Melbourne’s data. But with China a very different circuit, it’s far from certain that the same faces will dominate proceedings. There’s also a sprint race in Shanghai which based on what we saw at Albert Park, may resemble a Scalextrics race on heat. It also means only one practice session which means throwing the teams into competitive racing very early on. It may be a blessing in disguise as the more race laps they get, the better – especially Aston Martin.

Gavin:  We got some action and overtakes in the first part of the race, but I don’t know how much of that was drivers learning how these cars operate versus actual racing. It will take a while for the teams to sort themselves out and for the drivers to figure out how to drive the cars effectively to secure their final position. I’m sure the strategists will also nullify some of what we just saw. What will happen on other tracks that require less power is anyones guess for now.

Bonus Picture(s)

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