This may be anecdotal given the Australian Grand Prix is just the first round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, but Isack Hadjar is the first driver to lead Max Verstappen in their qualifying head-to-head since Daniel Ricciardo early in the 2017 campaign.That is largely down to Verstappen crashing out of Q1 in Melbourne with what may be a technical fault – Red Bull is “still trying to fully […]

Having clearly not received the memo from Stefano Domenicali, world champions Max Verstappen and Lando Norris remain unimpressed by the new generation of cars […]

George Russell expected Mercedes to be strong in Australian GP qualifying, just perhaps not this strong […]

Today's post-qualifying press conference with George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar […]

Following weeks of speculation of just how strong Mercedes would be, Australian Grand Prix qualifying finally gave customer team McLaren some much-needed clues on where it is lagging behind Formula 1's new dominant force.As expected, Mercedes locked out the front row in Melbourne, with George Russell taking pole by three tenths over team-mate Kimi Antonelli and - more significantly - around […]

Formula 1's new rules for 2026 have made qualifying laps look like cool-down laps - and there's no easy fix for this built-in flaw […]

A Formula 1 driver may be “passed by half the grid” at the start of the Australian Grand Prix if they race ‘stupidly’, reckons Ferrari star Charles Leclerc.The championship is debuting its latest regulation overhaul this year with changes to both the chassis and power unit, which has vastly altered the way drivers go racing.That’s largely because of the engine tweaks with it now […]

F1's new era of regulations is off to a very rocky start, and there's no quick and easy fix to rectify what may be a major blunder […]

Carlos Sainz believes drivers should focus their criticism of F1’s new cars in private forums […]

McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andrea Stella thinks Melbourne's Albert Park circuit "definitely exposes some of the weaknesses" in the 2026 regulations as drivers voiced fierce opposition to the new power unit regulations.The new 2026 rules force drivers to heavily compromise their driving style to focus on electric energy saving. Following early warnings last year when drivers got a first […]

The sandbags are off and we now know for sure that Mercedes has a sizeable advantage in F1 2026 - but where does its advantage lie? […]

Gabriel Bortoleto's qualifying was brought to a premature end when his Audi broke down in the pit lane […]

What we learned from the first qualifying session of F1 2026 […]

Pictures from qualifying day for the 2026 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park […]

Mercedes stunned rivals in Melbourne qualifying, but Toto Wolff insists the team were not hiding pace before their dominant one-two […]

The Formula 1 grid is split on how much it expected Mercedes to dominate qualifying for the 2026 season-opening Australian Grand Prix after George Russell led a Silver Arrows 1-2. Russell took his eighth career pole after beating team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 0.293s, with third-placed Isack Hadjar close to eight tenths off the pace on his Red Bull debut. It therefore backed up the […]

Will the new requirements for drivers at the start of races in 2026 create an unpredictable dash to the first corner in Melbourne? watch Sundays Australian Grand Prix at 4am with build-up from 2.30am, live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event […]

After Mercedes outpaced rival Formula 1 teams by eight tenths in Australian Grand Prix qualifying, Lewis Hamilton expressed concern about the German constructor’s engine advantage.George Russell was dominant on Saturday in Melbourne, topping all three segments of qualifying as Mercedes’ gap to its competition increased throughout.Russell ended up taking pole by 0.293s over team-mate […]

Oscar Piastri thinks McLaren was "overly optimistic" about its chances in Australia […]

Charles Leclerc admits Mercedes' speed at the Australian Grand Prix so far has been impressive […]

McLaren believe there is still significant performance to unlock as Andrea Stella studies how Mercedes exploited its power unit in Melbourne […]

Mercedes led the field by almost eight tenths of a second in qualifying. But did Red Bull or Ferrari have the potential to go faster? […]

The FIA has confirmed Lance Stroll will be allowed to start the Australian Grand Prix […]

Mercedes will have both cars on the Australian Grand Prix front row on Sunday, after Kimi Antonelli escaped a penalty for being released in an unsafe condition […]

World champion Lando Norris joins in with the criticism of the new generation of F1 cars […]

Charles Leclerc was stunned by Mercedes’ pace in Melbourne and doubts Ferrari’s strong starts will be enough […]

Lance Stroll has been given special dispensation to take part in Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix despite not setting a competitive lap time all weekend, with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz also placed on the starting grid.The three drivers all failed to set a lap time in qualifying, with Verstappen crashing out in Turn 1 and Sainz coasting to a halt in the Williams on his out-lap. In their […]

Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll has received the permission to take the start in the Australian Grand Prix - but it required a "compelling" case from the team […]

Max Verstappen suffered an early high-speed crash in Qualifying which means he will start F1s 2026 season-opener from 20th; watch Sundays Australian Grand Prix at 4am with build-up from 2.30am, live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event […]

It was a tremendously encouraging qualifying session for the team, and seeing Gabi reach Q3 is a special moment for everyone involved […]

Lewis Hamilton hopes Mercedes' power advantage in Australia is not a result of compression ratios […]

Kimi Antonelli labelled his Mercedes mechanics as "heroes" for fixing his car in time to make qualifying for Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix after his hefty FP3 shunt threatened to derail his weekend.The Italian had taken too much kerb at Turn 2 during the final stages of FP3 while attempting to start his qualifying simulation run, and careened into the outside wall as a result. His car came […]

Reigning champion Lando Norris says Formula 1 has gone from having the best cars in the sport's history to the worst after new rules were introduced for the 2026 season […]

What happened to Max is obviously very unfortunate and the most important thing is that he is okay. At the moment we are still trying to fully understand what happened […]

Mercedes had a monster performance in the first qualifying of this F1 rules era - but who else overperformed expectation, and whose year is looking a little worrying? […]

The FIA has issued its judgement on Mercedes for an unsafe release in Australian GP qualifying […]

We have said all along that we would measure ourselves by how we execute and operate as a team and we did that really well today […]

Lando Norris has joined Max Verstappen in criticising F1’s new generation of cars, calling them “probably the worst” from a driving perspective […]

Based on performance analysis and the condition of the sets at the end of the sessions, all three compounds could play a role in tomorrow's race strategies […]

Lando Norris says the new generation of F1 cars forces drivers to stare at their steering wheels ‘every three seconds’ […]

The main takeaway from today is that we need to do some work to generate more power and extract more performance from the power unit […]

Mercedes has been fined €7,500 for releasing Kimi Antonelli's car in an unsafe condition […]

George Russell sends a warning to his F1 rivals after claiming a dominant pole position […]

The best part of the Melbourne circuit shows the worst of the 2026 F1 cars […]

Max Verstappen is furious with F1's new rules following a disastrous qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix […]

What is clear is that today the gap to Mercedes is significant and we will have to make progress to get closer to them […]

Whilst we are very happy with today's performance, it is only Qualifying and the first race of the season […]

Clearly, it's not the start to the season we wanted or expected […]

An excellent day for VCARB and Red Bull Ford Powertrains […]

McLaren's Lando Norris says Formula 1 has "gone from the best cars ever to probably the worst" as he lamented the huge emphasis on energy harvesting, while Australian Grand Prix polesitter George Russell defended the new rules.Russell qualified on pole ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli as Mercedes confirmed its pre-season favourite status in Melbourne, the pair comfortably leaping clear of […]

Mercedes dominated qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix, as George Russell made the perfect start to F1 2026 […]

Lewis Hamilton said qualifying revealed Mercedes' true performance and he wants to "understand why the FIA haven't done anything" over their engines […]

Toto Wolff firmly rejects claims from F1 rivals that Mercedes has been sandbagging […]

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has admitted his relief after a strong Saturday from his drivers as he celebrated the end of the ground effect era. This comes after a commanding pole position from George Russell for the Australian Grand Prix.Following a dominant Saturday session in Melbourne where Russell placed his Mercedes at the front of the grid ahead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli, Wolff […]

Lewis Hamilton on Mercedes front-row lockout: If it is a compression thing, I want to understand why the FIA havent done anything if its not, we have to do a better job.watch Sundays Australian GP at 4am with 2.30am build-up, live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event […]

We had the chance to get into Q3 for sure, and it's really nice that we're very close to the top of the midfield, that's where we want to be […]