Mercedes dominates the first qualifying session of the season

The first pole position of the 2026 season has been claimed by George Russell. The Briton was more than two-tenths faster than runner-up and Mercedes teammate, Kimi Antonelli. Third place went to Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar; the Frenchman finished seven-tenths behind Russell.

The new era of Formula 1 has officially begun with this qualifying session, and it proved to be an exciting one, featuring the official debuts of teams like Cadillac and Audi, with the latter even fighting for a spot in Q3. Gabriel Bortoleto managed to reach the final shootout, qualifying tenth, while Nico Hülkenberg set the eleventh-fastest time.

At the front of the pack, Mercedes was dominant, and tomorrow they will do everything in their power to secure the first victory of the season. With one eye on the podium, they might even dare to dream of a one-two finish on Sunday. The last time Mercedes managed to finish first and second in the opening race of the year was in 2019, when Valtteri Bottas won the race with Lewis Hamilton finishing second.

Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers were the only ones to use a set of Mediums in Q1, with the aim of saving an additional set of softer tyres.

The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to George Russell by Scotty James. The snowboarder, originally from Melbourne, has just won a silver medal in the halfpipe at the Milan–Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. The Australian athlete has also been a four‑time world champion in the same discipline.

Weather conditions for Sunday look set to be even better than they were on Saturday. This means more sunshine is expected on Sunday, with temperatures rising slightly further. We are looking at around 26 degrees in the afternoon. As a result, fans in Albert Park will be able to enjoy the first race of the season in beautiful weather conditions.

George Russell

“Everything came together well today, and the team did an amazing job. They got the car into a good place, and we know that we’ve historically been quick in cooler conditions. Everything fell our way and we were able to convert that into pole. Equally, we know that the advantage we had today is not the true gap to our competitors. The team at Brackley and Brixworth have provided us with a really strong platform to build on but, if we want to win this championship, we will need to improve the car in several areas. This is only the first Qualifying session of the first race, and everyone is still on zero points.

“We will do our best to convert P1 and P2 into a strong result tomorrow. It will be a long afternoon, and we will see what challenges get thrown our way. We had good long run pace on Friday, but we need to execute well if we want to fight for victory. Let’s see what we can do.”

DARIO MARRAFUSCHI – PIRELLI MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR

“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. We believe that a one-stop approach is feasible for the teams, with the Medium–Hard combination being the fastest on paper. This would involve switching between lap 20 and lap 26.

“Some high-fuel runs with a representative number of laps in free practice have also paved the way for the use of the soft compound. If managed correctly, the C5 could be a viable option at the start of the race, with the C3 being used for the remainder of the race, fitted between laps 15 and 21.

“It should be noted that the time lost in the pit lane for a tyre change is minimal at around 21 seconds, and Melbourne’s history of race neutralisations indicates a 75% probability of a safety car. Consequently, the possibility of two-stop strategies on Sunday remains real. In that case, teams could opt for the Medium–Hard–Medium combination, or if they want to take a more aggressive approach, the Soft–Medium–Soft combination. After all, there have certainly been no shortage of track stoppages both yesterday and today.”

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