George Russell claimed pole position for the Australian Grand Prix, the opening race of the new Formula One season, with an ominously dominant run for Mercedes. Russell and his teammate Kimi Antonelli locked out the front row with their nearest competitor Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull almost eight-tenths of a second behind the pole time in third place.
The British driver and Mercedes were in a class of their own at the front of the field but there was a disastrous opening for the four-time world champion Max Verstappen who crashed out before he had even set a timed lap.
Home hope Oscar Piastri out-qualified his world champion teammate Lando Norris for McLaren in fifth and sixth respectively but both were more than eight-tenths back. Ferrari’s promise was not up to matching Mercedes, over the single lap at least, with Charles Leclerc in fourth and Lewis Hamilton in seventh.
With the gloves at long last coming off in the first competitive session of the new season, Mercedes confirmed their position as the favourites with complete authority in Melbourne. The team had demonstrated great strength in testing but had not really shown their hand in raw pace over a single lap. In the sunshine at Albert Park, the opposition could not even chase their shadow.
With the swathe of regulations changes implemented this season, including brand new chassis and engines, there was an expectation some teams would emerge stronger than others. But the march Mercedes have stolen is, on this form, something of a chasm. Red Bull may have been next best but when Mercedes turned up the wick the three main chasing teams were left wanting.
It was more impressive given that Antonelli had suffered a major crash in final practice and Mercedes had done well to repair the car. That he managed to turn in a strong recovery and take second despite not having time to fine-tune the set-up was telling.
Verstappen spun out into the barrier when the rear of his car completely locked-up under braking into turn one, apparently due to an issue locking the rear axle as part of the energy regeneration process which is part of the new style to which drivers are having to adapt this season. Others have been similarly caught out and Verstappen was left powerless as the car was spat out across the runoff and he finished in 20th place.
The pre-season favourite, Russell and Mercedes demonstrated that they open the new campaign with the real pace advantage that had been indicated during pre-season testing. Russell, confident and assured with a very stable and well-balanced car beneath him was able to positively hurl it around the Albert Park circuit as he was all but untouchable.
Suggestions that Mercedes had been holding off showing their real pace have swirled round the team in the buildup to the season and it now appears they did have more to come. It is Russell’s first pole in Australia and the eighth of his career. After Mercedes struggled with the last set of regulations, this was a statement of intent for Russell’s tilt at the championship in 2026.
The key laps in Q3 were interrupted initially by a red flag caused when Antonelli was sent out with a cooling fan still in the air intake, which fell from the car and was then smashed into shards by Norris. When running resumed Russell immediately set the pace, taking the provisional top spot with a 1minute 19.084-second lap, a full half a second up on Norris and Hadjar, while Antonelli went wide and had to reset.
For the final runs Antonelli improved and went quickest but Russell was once more very strong in the opening and final sectors to claim the top spot with a 1min 18.518sec lap. Russell was almost three-tenths up on his teammate who was the only one to even push him hard.
Fears that the energy management required by the new regulations, with the cars now powered in an almost 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical energy, would prove detrimental in qualifying proved unfounded with drivers apparently able to push flat-out for the entire lap when it mattered.
Having had their F1 entry formally approved just over 12 months ago, and starting the team from scratch, Cadillac will take no little pride in having hit their first target of making it to qualifying in Melbourne. The car is off the pace with Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas in 18th and 19th but they are at least in the race, with the intent of building up as the season progresses.
Audi, who are also making their debut in F1 having taken over the former Sauber team and are manufacturing their own engines, made an impressive opening with Gabriel Bortoleto taking an excellent 10th and Nico Hülkenberg in 11th.
After a torrid weekend Aston Martin’s terrible opening to the season continued. On Thursday the team principal Adrian Newey admitted his drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll would be unable to complete more than 25 or 15 laps respectively in a race for fears of receiving permanent nerve damage because of a severe vibration problem from the Honda engine. Worse followed with two battery unit failures in the underpowered and unreliable engine in practice leaving them with only two functioning units and no further replacements.
Stroll could not take part in qualifying because of a further engine issue, while Alonso could manage only 17th, in front only of the two Cadillacs on pace.
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