Motor Sport Central

George Russell kicked off the 2026 season with a win in Albert Park, as home hero Oscar Piastri crashed on his way to the grid, and Nico Hülkenberg was also unable to start due to a communication issue with his car.

The start of the race was crazy, with both Mercedes arriving at the main grid with 0% battery, but the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc got an amazing start and went from P4 to P1 in the first corner, with team mate Lewis Hamilton going from P7 to P4.

Throughout the first few laps, there were nearly 6 lead changes between Russell and Leclerc, with Kimi Antonelli and Hamilton also getting involved.

The overtakes from both drivers were incredible and almost all done using the new overtake button.

World Champion Lando Norris finishes P5 in Australia after a difficult few laps, with Max Verstappen starting P20 and finishing P6, with both of these being the only drivers for their team to finish the race.

Isack Hadjar retired on lap 12 after smoke appeared at the back of his car, forcing him into early retirement. Valtteri Bottas was also another driver who retired from the race. He was told to stop the car by his engineer and did so at the pit lane entry.

Both Aston Martin drivers (Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll) were told they could only do a maximum of 20-25 laps due to the lack of parts they have. Alonso came into the pits on lap 15 and rejoined again on lap 26 to gain the data the team needed. Stroll also pitted but came out again to get data for the team, as they have had very little running all year.

Only three VSC (virtual safety cars) were shown all race, with Bernd Mayländer not taking to the track for the F1 all weekend.

Russell currently leads the championship with teammate Kimi Antonelli second and the Ferrari driver of Leclerc third.

This is shaping up to be one of the most exciting seasons, but will the starting procedures and other factors that teams are still working out affect this?

Formula One is back next week in China with a sprint race also taking place.

(Featured image free to use under Wikimedia Commons)