Australian GP 2026: Russell wins as Ferrari's VSC gamble fails

George Russell won the Australian Grand Prix from pole position, beating Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli by 2.974 seconds at Albert Park to open the new-rules era with a one-two. Charles Leclerc finished third, 15.5 seconds back, with Lewis Hamilton only 0.625s behind him. Pace mattered, but the race in Melbourne was settled by what each team did under the first virtual safety car.

How Russell won in Melbourne

Leclerc launched best from fourth and led into Turn 1, while a poor start dropped Antonelli to seventh. Russell and Leclerc then swapped the lead several times, the Ferrari using its Overtake mode to strike back, until Russell locked up heavily into Turn 1 on lap 9 and let Hamilton close in.

The turning point came when Isack Hadjar's Red Bull started smoking with an engine failure and the VSC was called. Mercedes stacked both cars in the pits; Ferrari left Leclerc and Hamilton out. A second VSC followed when Valtteri Bottas parked his Cadillac with a fuel system problem, and the pit lane was closed before Ferrari could change its mind. Hamilton's verdict on the radio: "At least one of us should have come in."

Ferrari's plan relied on Mercedes needing a second stop. They never made one. Russell had already told his team a one-stop was viable, and once Leclerc pitted for hards on lap 26 and Hamilton followed, Russell retook the lead at Turn 9 and was not headed again. Antonelli was 5.7s behind on lap 50 and closed to under three by the flag.

Max Verstappen, who crashed in Q1 and started 20th, came through to sixth but could not find a way past Lando Norris, fifth after two stops. Oscar Piastri never took the start at his home race: he clipped the kerb at Turn 4 on cold tyres on the way to the grid and hit the barrier. Nico Hülkenberg's Audi also failed to start with a technical problem, while Gabriel Bortoleto gave the team points on its debut in ninth.

Russell vs Antonelli and the other teammate duels

Mercedes. Antonelli recovered from a crash in final practice to qualify second, but Russell had the edge on Saturday, by 0.373% of a lap in our count, and again on Sunday. The bad start cost Antonelli any chance of fighting for the lead. First round to the senior driver: 1–0 in both columns.

Ferrari. Leclerc qualified fourth to Hamilton's seventh. Hamilton gained four places on the opening lap, led while Leclerc made his stop and closed to within a second of his teammate in the final laps, but there was no pass. On F1 Duels, their head-to-head opens 1–0 to Leclerc in qualifying and in races, decided on Sunday by 0.625s.

Red Bull. The striking Saturday result belonged to Hadjar. In his first race for Red Bull he qualified third, while Max Verstappen went into the barriers in Q1. Hadjar was running fifth when his engine let go, so the race does not count in our model: he leads 1–0 on Saturdays, with the race column still empty.

Racing Bulls. Liam Lawson out-qualified rookie Arvid Lindblad, eighth against ninth, then lost power at the start and finished 13th. Lindblad ran fifth early on, fought Oliver Bearman for seventh and scored on his debut in eighth. Their duel is level after one weekend: Saturday to Lawson, Sunday to Lindblad.

What it means for the championship

Russell leaves Melbourne leading the world championship for the first time in his career, seven points clear of Antonelli and ten ahead of Leclerc. Mercedes already have 43 points to Ferrari's 27, and Ferrari have a strategy call to explain. All the head-to-heads from this race are on our Australian GP duels page. Shanghai is next, the following weekend.