Russell leads Mercedes 1-2 for Australian Grand Prix as Verstappen crashes

George Russell powered to pole position on Saturday (March 7, 2026) for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, but there was disaster for Max Verstappen as he crashed out.

On a fine day at Melbourne’s Albert Park, Verstappen’s Red Bull partner Isack Hadjar came third in chaotic qualifying as the pecking order became clearer after the biggest regulation shake-up F1 has seen in years.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will keep Hadjar company on the second row with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and world champion teammate Lando Norris starting fifth and sixth.

Russell eclipsed his rivals with a flying lap of one minute 18.518 seconds on soft tyres, 0.293 ahead of Antonelli.

“A great day. We knew there was a lot of potential in the car,” said the Briton.

“Really happy to have Kimi here next to me as well, as the team did an amazing job in the garage today.”

Incredibly, Antonelli showed up after crashing heavily in final practice earlier in the day and writing off his Silver Arrow.

The 19-year-old Italian left the car in a mess but his mechanics miraculously managed to stitch it back together and he got on track with just three minutes left of Q1 to stay alive.

“It has been a very, very stressful day. The mechanics today were the heroes. We couldn’t even set up the car, we just went out,” he said. “It was not easy, I needed to dig deep.”

Verstappen woes

It was a nightmare for four-time world champion Verstappen — the 2023 and 2024 pole-sitter — who slammed into the barriers at Turn 1 of his first flying lap in Q1.

“The car just locked on the rear axle. Fantastic,” said the Dutchman, whose hopes of a second win in Australia after his 2023 victory appear to be over.

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton will start in seventh alongside the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson, with rookie Arvid Lindblad in the other Racing Bull and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto filling out the top 10.

Brazilian Bortoleto’s car stopped in the pit entry after Q2 and he was unable to take part in Q3, which was red-flagged with only Piastri lapping.

Antonelli’s car was sent out with the cooling fan still attached, which fell off and Norris ran over it, leaving debris sprawled across the track.

The Italian was cited by the stewards, but avoided a grid penalty.

Instead, Mercedes were fined 7,500 euros for releasing his car in an unsafe condition.

Hadjar impresses

It was the first qualifying session at full throttle under the sport’s radical new engine and chassis regulations.

With a greater reliance on electrical energy in the hybrid power units, drivers had to grapple with better management of their batteries.

The challenge of Albert Park is its long sweeping straights, which deplete batteries, and relatively few twisty turns to brake and charge it up again.

“It was a very smooth qualifying,” said Hadjar.

“We kind of built up to it, and it was a very good last lap. I want to keep my position, as a second podium would be good.”

Alpine pair Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly failed to get through Q2, as did Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman. Nico Hulkenberg in his Audi joined them.

Along with Verstappen, Williams’ Carlos Sainz was eliminated in Q1. The Spaniard’s car broke down in third practice and he failed to appear for qualifying.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was another no-show as the team continue to deal with extreme vibration in their Honda power unit.

Also out at the first hurdle was his teammate Fernando Alonso in 17th, along with both Cadillac drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez in the team’s maiden Grand Prix.