Overview
- George Russell won at Albert Park with team-mate Kimi Antonelli second, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
- Mercedes double-stacked under the lap-11 Virtual Safety Car for Isack Hadjar’s power loss, then gained again as Ferrari also stayed out during a second brief VSC when Valtteri Bottas stopped near pit entry.
- Ferrari’s late green-flag stops surrendered track position, and Russell managed hard tyres to the finish under 2026’s energy-deployment rules after seven early lead changes with Leclerc.
- Reliability issues marked the opener: Oscar Piastri and Nico Hülkenberg did not start, Hadjar and Bottas retired, and Aston Martin’s cars could not complete race distance.
- Lando Norris finished fifth ahead of Max Verstappen’s charge from 20th to sixth, with Oliver Bearman, rookie Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly rounding out the points as Shanghai hosts the season’s first Sprint next.