George Russell took a comfortable victory in the Australian Grand Prix as a new era of Formula 1 began, holding off a brief early scrap with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc before stretching clear. Russell and Leclerc traded the lead several times in the first 10 laps as both used the cars’ new electrical boost modes, but a key strategy call by Ferrari during a virtual safety car (VSC) period removed them from contention.
Russell led home Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, with Leclerc forced to settle for third ahead of Lewis Hamilton. “I’m feeling incredible. It was a hell of a fight at the beginning. We knew it was going to be challenging and I got on the grid and I saw my battery level had nothing in the tank,” Russell said. “I made a bad start and obviously some really tight battles with Charles, so I was really glad to cross the finish line.”
McLaren’s world champion Lando Norris finished fifth, holding off a late charge from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who recovered from 20th on the grid to sixth. Home favourite Oscar Piastri crashed on his way to the grid after losing control over a kerb and spinning into the wall, ruling him out before the race proper.
Eighteen-year-old Arvid Lindblad became the youngest Briton to race in F1 and impressed on debut, finishing eighth for Racing Bulls behind countryman Oliver Bearman in the Haas. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took the final point in 10th.
Russell’s dominant qualifying — he took pole by 0.8 seconds over the quickest non-Mercedes car — had raised eyebrows, but the race began much closer. Both Ferraris had strong electric starts; Leclerc vaulted from fourth into the lead at Turn One, only for Russell to power back past on lap two using extra electrical energy. Leclerc retook the lead on lap three, and the pair continued to trade places while managing battery recharge and deployment.
After 10 laps a leading quartet formed — Russell, Leclerc, Antonelli and Hamilton — until Isack Hadjar retired on lap 12, bringing out a VSC. Pitting under VSC normally reduces time lost, and Mercedes took advantage, bringing Russell and Antonelli in. Ferrari, however, opted to keep Leclerc and Hamilton out on track, sticking to their pre-race one-stop plan. Hamilton voiced his concern over the radio: “At least one of us should have pitted.”
Leclerc finally stopped on lap 25 but rejoined 14 seconds behind the lead, and on fresher tyres he was unable to reel Russell back in. Leclerc later conceded he did not think a win was realistic and that third was the best he could achieve. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur called the early exchanges “a good start,” while drivers and officials continue to debate the effects of the new regulations and heavy emphasis on energy management.
The early position swapping owed much to the cars’ new boost and overtake modes: drivers use short bursts of extra electrical power, then must recharge, which created frequent lead changes but also limited opportunities to build a gap. The sport’s bosses plan to monitor the first three races before deciding whether to adjust rules to ease energy constraints and reduce electronic dominance.
Verstappen, who had crashed in qualifying and started on hard tyres as part of an off-set strategy, stayed out during Hadjar’s VSC but pitted quickly when Valtteri Bottas’ Cadillac stopped at the pit-lane entry on lap 17. Switching to mediums left him likely to stop again and hindered his chances of a stronger result; he finished sixth and will seek to show his true pace in China next weekend.
Racing Bulls’ Lindblad impressed throughout the weekend. From eighth on the grid he passed Norris and Hamilton on lap one and briefly ran third before settling back; he held off an attack from Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto in the closing laps to claim points on debut. Bearman finished ahead of him in seventh.
Aston Martin endured a difficult day with six retirements; Fernando Alonso, who had made a strong start to run briefly 10th from 17th on the grid, was brought in after the team spotted a problem, sent back out to gather data, then withdrawn for the remainder of the race. His team-mate Lance Stroll finished last, 15 laps down. Sergio Perez completed the Grand Prix in 16th, three laps off the leader in Cadillac’s first F1 race.
