Russell wins F1 Melbourne season opener ahead of Antonelli
- Teagan Crump
- 6 minutes ago
- 2 min read
By Teagan Crump
The opening round of Formula One in 2026 saw chaos before the race had even begun but amidst the problems and the drama, Mercedes and Ferrari seemed to make the most of the new regulations.
On the way to the grid, Nico Hülkenberg had a technical issue, meaning that he had to return to the garage ahead of the race start. Home hero Oscar Piastri also had an issue on the way to the grid when he hit the wall and could not start the first race of the season.
George Russell started the race from pole and was accompanied on the front row by his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli.
When the five red lights went out, both Isack Hadjar and the Ferraris were immediately on a charge and Charles Leclerc took over the lead of the race. Prior to the start, Russell was having concerns about the battery and its deployment.
Russell and Leclerc continued to swap the lead of the race until lap 12, when a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was called for the smoking Red Bull of Isack Hadjar who, just one lap prior, had expressed his concern about his energy management.
During the battle for the lead, further down the field, Franco Colapinto was handed a stop and go penalty for a starting procedure infringement. Lewis Hamilton also managed to close in on the fight for first. Max Verstappen also managed to fight his way up to tenth place after starting in twentieth.
On lap 14, the VSC was ended and racing resumed. However, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was told to stop the car as it "has an issue". The problems that Aston Martin have faced in the pre-season seemed to be more manageable during the race but were still prominent.
Lap 18 saw Valtteri Bottas stopped on track and another VSC called. Just two laps later it was ended. Max Verstappen and Arvid Lindblad were battling hard meanwhile Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly continued their race-long fight for position.
Fernando Alonso returned to the race on lap 25, but retired once again on lap 37.
Another VSC period happened on lap 34 for debris from Sergio Pérez's Cadillac but racing resumed as soon as the track was cleared. On lap 39, Lance Stroll retired before un-retiring 11 laps later.
Ocon and Gasly continued their fight, and several other drivers battled for position.
On lap 58, George Russell crossed the line to take the win with Kimi Antonelli in second and Charles Leclerc in third.
The points results:
The championship standings:
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