Formula 1

Mercedes driver George Russell led a dominant one-two finish for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team to win the FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2026, beating teammate Kimi Antonelli at Albert Park.

Charles Leclerc capitalised on Ferrari’s superior stop-start launch ability to surge from fourth on the grid to take the lead from Russell, as the pair traded positions during the early stages of the race.

A Virtual Safety Car was triggered soon after as Isack Hadjar retired his Red Bull. Mercedes seized the moment to pit both drivers, while the both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton stayed out.

A second Virtual Safety Car appeared when Valtteri Bottas stopped his Cadillac, but Ferrari again chose not to pit.

Once Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton eventually made their stops, the Mercedes pair reclaimed the lead and held a substantial advantage for the remainder of the session.

Ferrari appeared set to run to the finish on fresher tyres, while Mercedes’ earlier stop raised doubts about whether another pit stop would be required.

Russell and Antonelli were able to nurse their tyres to the chequered flag, as Russell won by 2.9 seconds to claim his sixth career victory and first at the Australian Grand Prix.

Leclerc and Hamilton finished third and fourth respectively, while reigning champion Lando Norris began his title defence for McLaren with a fifth.

Max Verstappen was the biggest riser on the day, recovering from 20th on the grid to finish sixth, ahead of Oliver Bearman.

Rookie Arvid Lindblad impressed on debut with eighth for Racing Bulls, while Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.

Local hero Oscar Piastri did not start the race after spinning on the first formation lap. Nico Hülkenberg was also a pre-race omission, failing to start due to a technical issue.

Piastri will have a chance to bounce back in a week’s time in Shanghai at the Chinese Grand Prix on 13-15 March.

Formula 2

Nikola Tsolov has claimed his first FIA Formula 2 victory, also making history to become the first Bulgarian to win in the category.

Rookie Rafael Câmara secured second for Invicta Racing, while Laurens van Hoepen brought TRIDENT a podium finish in third.

Martinius Stenshorne got an excellent start to lead from second on the grid for the opening lap, with teammate Alexander Dunne challenging him through the first corners.

Tsolov moved up to third for Campos Racing, while teammate Noel León dropped back after contact with Oliver Goethe.

It was on Lap 3, a clash between the Rodin teammates Stenshorne and Dunne caused both to retire, handing the lead to Tsolov under the Safety Car.

Dino Beganovic came in for pit stop before retiring as soon as he began Lap 17, triggering a Safety Car. As the race restarted on Lap 22, Tsolov defended his lead expertly, while Câmara regained second.

Tsolov proved too strong and crossed the finish line to secure a landmark victory for Campos Racing. Câmara held second, with van Hoepen completing the podium.

Round 2 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship heads to Sakhir on 10-12 April.

Formula 3

Ugo Ugochukwu secured his first career FIA Formula 3 victory with an impressive win in the Melbourne Feature Race.

Despite a slow start that dropped him to third, the American driver quickly recovered to take the lead and control the race to the finish for Campos Racing.

TRIDENT’s Freddie Slater managed to finish second, while ART Grand Prix’s Taito Kato inherited third place following a pair of post-race penalties handed out to Théophile Nael and Noah Stromsted.

Nael, who began the race on pole held the lead into Turn 1, while Slater passed Ugochukwu for second.

On Lap 2, Ugochukwu regained second place from Slater at Turn 9 before quickly catching Nael. He used the same corner to complete a decisive pass for the lead. The top three soon pulled clear of the rest of the field as battles continued behind them.

A Safety Car was deployed on Lap 9 after Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi crashed at Turn 12. Ugochukwu opened a gap from the rest of the field while Nael came under pressure from Slater.

The race was complicated by penalties: Nael received a five-second penalty for a false start and Stromsted was handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.

Slater eventually overtook Nael for second using DRS on Lap 20.

Any chance of a late race-lead change was quashed following a late Safety Car, as the race ended under the yellow flags, confirming Ugochukwu’s maiden F3 victory.

The next round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship season heads to Bahrain for Round 2 on 10-12 April.

Supercars

Brodie Kostecki’s superb run at this year’s Melbourne SuperSprint continued to the end of the finale following a clinically executed overtake move on Will Brown.

The move came at opposite ends of the race session of the huge opening-lap crash which eliminated Broc Feeney from contention.

The crash come as a result of contact between Kai Allen and Ryan Wood on the main straight, which then sparked a Turn 1 scene.

Macauley Jones clipped Allen and spun Feeney’s #88 Mustang across the track. Cooper Murray then hit the stranded car. Feeney, Murray and Zach Bates were all forced out on the spot, though all drivers walked away unharmed.

Brown led the field back to green on lap five ahead of Thomas Randle following the incident, as Kostecki quickly moved into third and began closing the gap.

Kostecki soon overtook Randle to move into second, then set about hunting down Brown in the closing laps.

The two ran nose-to-tail until Brown ran wide late in the race, giving Kostecki the opportunity he needed to take the lead with a sublime dummy move causing Brown to lock up in the corner.

Kostecki went on to win the race, securing three victories from the four total races, as well as a second Larry Perkins Trophy.

Randle finished third for his first podium of the season, with Le Brocq and Golding rounding out the top five.

Kostecki now leads the Supercars Championship heading into the two New Zealand rounds. The Taupō Super 440 takes place in a month’s time on 10-12 April.