The 2026 Formula 1 season opened with a mix of hometown heroics and technical chaos at the Australian Grand Prix.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri topped the Friday practice charts with a 1:19.729, narrowly beating out Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli by 0.214 seconds.
Despite Piastri’s headline pace, Mercedes emerged as the early favorites; George Russell showed a dominant race-pace advantage of nearly 0.6 seconds per lap during long runs, leaving Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc admitting his team is “on the back foot.”
Despite the arrival of Adrian Newey, Aston Martin is five seconds off the pace. A “scary” engine vibration issue is shattering batteries, leaving Fernando Alonso in a “hard mental place” with only two spares remaining.
Teams are struggling to master the new 2026 engines, which split power 50-50 between fuel and electricity.
18-year-old Brit Arvid Lindblad impressed in 8th for Racing Bulls, while new manufacturers Audi and Cadillac completed their first official sessions.
World champion Lando Norris (7th) and Max Verstappen (6th) both had messy sessions hampered by gearbox issues and off-track excursions.
Top 5 Results:
1 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) — 1:19.729
2 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) — +0.214
3 George Russell (Mercedes) — +0.320
4 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) — +0.321
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) — +0.562
