Russell leads Mercedes one-two in Australian Grand Prix qualifying as Verstappen crashes out

George Russell claimed the first pole position of 2026 in dominant fashion at the Australian Grand Prix after four-time champion Max Verstappen crashed out of qualifying without setting a time.

Russell topped every qualifying segment on his way to pole position with a weekend-best time of 1m18.518s. It was an imperious performance for the Mercedes driver; though teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, was only 0.293s slower at the end of a scrappy day that almost had him miss qualifying altogether, the next-best car was almost 0.8s off the pace, in the realization of preseason fears that the German marque was a step ahead of the rest.

Russell’s pole position never looked seriously in doubt, though he needed both laps in Q3 to pip his teammate and claim the eighth P1 start of his career and his first at Albert Park.

“It was a great day. We knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until you get to the first lap of the season, you never know.

“I’m excited for the race tomorrow, and I think [the new rules] can bring some quite exciting racing. Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. Obviously we’re going to try and work hard tonight. Obviously a really great day. We’re together, were in the best place possible.”

Antonelli’s participation in qualifying was touch and go thanks to a heavy crash in FP3 and the ensuing frantic rebuild that lasted through to the final minutes of Q1. A red flag for Verstappen, however, gave the Mercedes mechanics some breathing room, allowing them to complete repairs in time for the resumption.

The Red Bull driver was embarking on his first timed lap around halfway through Q1 when his rear axle locked up under braking into the first turn. His car, this season powered by Red Bull's own engine for the first time, immediately spun, skipping through the gravel trap and hitting the barriers in a hail of stones.

“Fantastic,” he radioed sarcastically before extricating himself from the car and returning to pit lane on the back of a motorbike.

Antonelli comfortably progressed to Q3, but a trip through the gravel at turn 3 on his first run piled pressure onto the Italian. He responded with a sizzling lap that temporarily moved him ahead of his teammate and eventually left him second on the grid.

“It’s been a very, very stressful day,” he said. “The mechanics were the heroes to put the car back on track.

“We couldn’t even set up the car. We just went out and managed to put it on the front row, so I’m really happy with that. It was not easy. I had to dig deep, but I need to have a clean weekend next time, because it definitely compromised a little bit qualifying. We have a race tomorrow to look ahead to, and a good result is possible.”

Isack Hadjar impressed on his first outing with Red Bull to qualify third, albeit the margin to Mercedes was a whopping 0.785s. Third will be the best grid position for Verstappen’s teammate since Sergio Perez started the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix on the front row.

“I feel like Ferrari and McLaren would be a bit clear of me, but we built up to the whole qualifying session, and that was very good, Hadjar said, although he was pessimistic about his chances of moving forward in the race. “The only thing I can do is make a better start than them, but they’re just too fast at the moment,” he said of the Mercedes drivers. “I want to keep my position. My second podium would be good.”

Charles Leclerc qualified fourth for Ferrari, just 0.024s further back but more than 0.8s slower than Mercedes.

Oscar Piastri beat McLaren teammate Lando Norris by 0.095s, his margin over the reigning champion all weekend reduced in the final qualifying segment.

Lewis Hamilton had a scrappy end to his qualifying to wind up seventh, 0.151s behind teammate Leclerc.

Liam Lawson’s final lap moved him ahead of rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad, but he was still 1.476s off the pace and more than half a second behind Hamilton in a sobering representation of the gap between the front-runners and the midfield.

Bortoleto qualified an impressive 10th for Audi’s first grand prix as a works manufacturer in Formula 1, though the Brazilian’s car stopped at the pit lane entrance at the end of Q2. Requiring a push from the marshals to return to pit lane, he wasn’t able to take part in Q2, leaving him 10th without a time.

His teammate Nico Hulkenberg was beaten to a spot in Q3 by 0.082s to qualify 11th for the opening race ahead of Haas teammates Oliver Bearman – by 0.008s – and Esteban Ocon.

Pierre Gasly was the best-placed Alpine driver at 1.567s off the pace in 14th, beating Alex Albon in the rival Mercedes-powered Williams by half a second.

Franco Colapinto completed Q2 more than 0.3s off the back of the Q2 pack.

Fernando Alonso was knocked out of qualifying 17th, foremost among those eliminated in Q1, ahead of only the Cadillac drivers among those who set a time. Alonso’s Honda-powered Aston Martin was 2.462s off the pace and 0.722s short of a spot in Q2.

Sergio Perez outqualified Cadillac teammate Valtteri Bottas for 18th and 19th, the two split by 0.639s, ahead of the crashed-out Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz didn’t join the session following his stoppage in FP3.

Lance Stroll also failed to leave pit lane, having skipped practice earlier in the day with a suspected internal combustion engine problem that the team said couldn’t be rectified in time for qualifying. The Canadian has not set a time within 107 percent of Russell’s Q1-topping time this weekend and will require permission from the stewards to enter Sunday’s grand prix.

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