Winners and losers of the wild first race of the new F1 era

The brand new period in F1 bought off to an thrilling begin with the action-packed season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

After weeks of mind video games, politics and hypothesis, we have lastly gotten to witness our first style of a brand new period in F1 because the 2026 season kicks off in Australia.

Mercedes bought off to an ideal begin, with George Russell scoring one or two targets in a frenetic opening recreation. The race began nicely till issues calmed down in the direction of the top.

Listed below are the largest winners and losers from a wild first spherical in Melbourne…

Winner – Mercedes

Mercedes gained the benefit in the beginning of 2026 after the Silver Arrows turned a front-row lockout into a cushty one-two for Russell.

After dominating in qualifying, Mercedes did not have a simple time on race day, having to beat an early problem from Ferrari. Charles Leclerc rocketed previous Russell at Flip 1, and Lewis Hamilton additionally put stress on him early on.

The Silver Arrows finally took benefit of the Ferraris to choose up the tempo and outmaneuver Russell, who turned pole place into victory and moved into the World Championship lead for the primary time in his profession. This might not be as important as some have urged, however it’s clear that Mercedes has a efficiency benefit on the sector, a minimum of for now.

Russell lived as much as his expectations as a pre-season favourite by making the right begin to his world championship problem as Mercedes marked their return to F1 after a troublesome 4 years.

Loser – McLaren

McLaren set the benchmark for F1 with two world championship wins in 2025 earlier than being despatched again to earth with a crushing defeat in the beginning of the brand new guidelines cycle.

McLaren had thought it could begin the 12 months behind rivals Mercedes and Ferrari, however its deficit was a lot bigger than anticipated. Reigning world champion Lando Norris led Russell by greater than 50 seconds, transferring him into fifth place with a 35-second lead over Hamilton in fourth place.

Norris, who didn’t take pleasure in the brand new technology of F1 vehicles and had been extremely important of them, grew to become fairly depressed afterwards, claiming that McLaren had a “very lengthy journey” and “a number of work to do”.

Winner – Ferrari

This was a optimistic begin for Ferrari after a disastrous 2025 season. Regardless of a disappointing qualifying efficiency, Ferrari’s greatest race begin allowed Leclerc and Hamilton to affix the staff on the opening laps, and the SF-26 appeared as if it might match Mercedes within the first stint.

Ferrari’s resolution to not pit through the first two digital security vehicles ended any likelihood of victory. Ferrari selected to prioritize monitor place, which in hindsight ceded management of the race to Mercedes, who, together with nearly all of the sector, jumped on the likelihood to learn from low cost pit stops.

Intense scrutiny over alleged strategic errors apart, Ferrari has causes to be inspired to go away Australia. Mercedes are believed to have the ability to take the lead as they’ve the second-fastest automotive, with Hamilton insisting it’s “not unimaginable” to catch his former staff in future races.

Loser – Oscar Piastri

For the second 12 months in a row, Oscar Piastri skilled heartbreak in his residence nation. This time he suffered a surprising crash on his method to the grid earlier than the race and was unable to even begin.

Not solely was this an enormous disappointment at his residence race, however Piastri, who heads into 2026 with factors to show after being eradicated from the 2025 F1 title, bought off to the worst doable begin, forward of McLaren teammate Norris.

The expensive crash took Piastri utterly abruptly and made a troublesome begin to McLaren’s new marketing campaign even worse.

Winner – Arvid Lindblad

It has been a dream begin to F1 for 18-year-old British rookie Arvid Lindblad. He completed eighth in Melbourne, turning into the third-youngest factors scorer in historical past.

This was a really spectacular efficiency from Lindblad over the weekend, outperforming his extra skilled Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson, and he appeared well-equipped at residence in F1.

Lindblad bought off to an incredible begin and crossed paths with the leaders on the primary lap. Regardless of being inevitably overtaken by sooner vehicles, Pink Bull’s newest thrilling phenom has matured, raced fearlessly and achieved an incredible outcome on his debut.

Loser – Pink Bull

After a powerful pre-season, this was not the begin to 2026 that Pink Bull had in thoughts.

Max Verstappen has made an excellent restoration from his surprising crash and elimination in Q1, rising from twentieth on the grid to sixth, however Pink Bull look like battling McLaren for third place behind Mercedes and Pink Bull.

Isaac Hajar was deeply dissatisfied after his Pink Bull’s energy unit failed on lap 12 at Albert Park, ruining a powerful begin to the race.

However there may be some encouragement for Pink Bull, with Hajar already displaying promising indicators that he might keep away from the identical destiny as his predecessors.

Winner – Olly Bearman

Olly Bearman’s spectacular drive from behind the scenes quietly broke into the highest 10 regardless of being overshadowed by his efforts on the entrance, marking Haas’ begin to factors.

The highly-regarded Bearman began off the place he left off a powerful rookie F1 season, outperforming Haas teammate Esteban Ocon as soon as once more and outperforming him in qualifying.

It was an incredible begin to the season for Bearman, who will take over the position of lead driver for Haas in F1.

Loser – Williams

Williams ran a reasonably nameless race, with Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz barely showing on TV protection, ending a modest twelfth and fifteenth respectively.

Aston Martin apart, Williams has been the largest disappointment of 2026 up to now. FW48 was obese and his tempo was severely affected, and Williams fell from the entrance of the midfield group to the again through the winter.

Except weight and efficiency points are resolved, will probably be troublesome for Williams to attain factors.

Winner – Gabriel Bortleto

Gabriel Bortleto entered Q3 because the underdog star in qualifying, however improved to ninth place and scored two factors in Audi’s first F1 race.

Bortleto’s robust drive and outcome softened the blow from technical issues that prevented Nico Hulkenberg from beginning.

Loser – Aston Martin

Aston Martin nonetheless must earn a spot within the ‘losers’ column, primarily based purely on their disastrous begin to 2026, primarily attributable to Honda’s reliability points.

Nevertheless, on race day, the outcomes had been higher than anticipated. Fernando Alonso bought off to an incredible begin, rising to tenth place at one level and ending after 21 laps.

Lance Stroll accomplished 43 of 58 laps, however needed to cease within the storage. This has given Aston Martin extra knowledge and mileage than anticipated heading into the race, however there are nonetheless main points left for Aston Martin and Honda to handle.