Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Melbourne

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George Russell took a comfortable victory in the Australian Grand Prix at the start of a new era of Formula 1 after a brief early scrap with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Russell and Leclerc staged a close fight for the first 10 laps with frequent lead changes before Ferrari's decision to stay out during a virtual safety car period took them out of contention for the win.

The Briton led home team-mate Kimi Antonelli while Leclerc had to be satisfied with the final podium position ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

McLaren's world champion Lando Norris finished fifth, fending off a challenge in the closing laps from Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who recovered from 20th on the grid to finish sixth.

Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri crashed on his way to the grid of his home race, losing control over a kerb and getting a spike of unexpected power to spin into the wall.

Read the full report here

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The new era of Formula 1 is off the mark and it's advantage Mercedes after a one-two in the opening race in Australia. George Russell converted his pole position into victory but he was pushed hard at the start by Charles Leclerc, who leapt off the line from fourth to first in his Ferrari, before ending his day on the podium in third.

Well done to 18-year-old British rookie Arvid Lindblad, who becomes the third youngest points scorer in Formula 1 history behind Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull's Max Verstappen with his eighth-placed finish in Melbourne.

Thanks for joining us, folks. Get yourselves back here on Friday, 13 March at 03:30 GMT for the only practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix, followed by sprint qualifying at 07:30 to set the grid for Saturday's shorter race.

Sunday's main grand prix starts at 07:00.

See you next weekend!

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Here's a challenge to keep you ticking over until next weekend's second round of racing in Shanghai.

Have a go at this mega F1 quiz with each question based on one of the 22 drivers competing in the 2026 season.

Take the quiz here

Myles: This Mercedes 1-2 reminds me of Brawn GP in 2009. Similar season ahead?

Laurance: I like these new rules. Very not boring! Can't wait for the rest of the season.

Oscar Piastri was joined by Audi's Nico Hulkenberg as a non-start in Australia, while Lance Stroll said today's race was more like a practice session for the struggling Aston Martin team.

11. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

12. Alex Albon (Williams)

13. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

15. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

16. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

DNF. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

DNF. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

DNF. Isack Hadjar (red Bull)

DNS. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

DNS. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

Aaron: Great racing at the start but quickly died out after the 2 VSCs. Russell and Mercedes will be ones to beat barring reliability issues. Also, Bortoleto getting points for Audi's debut shouldn't be overlooked.

Dan: Not a fan of this new era. Can’t see Max Verstappen sticking around I’d he’s down the order in a car he doesn’t like, racing in an era he doesn’t like. Max’s last season?

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Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso retired from the race, speaking to Sky Sports: "We need to take the positives and we need to move forward, I think everyone is determined to change the situation and is working really hard.

"I think probably from the situation in Bahrain and Thursday here, we're in a better position now.

"We tested a few things and we discovered a little bit of window on the car and on the chassis which we didn't in Bahrain, thanks to the laps we did in the free practice.

"Today with both cars we managed to do a formation lap, a start, a pit stop, all these kind of things that probably sound normal for everyone.

"We were never at 7pm in Bahrain on track, so we never practiced any of the formation or start procedures, so I think it was good data. We will be more prepared into China."

On being able to do the full race in China: "I think that will be optimistic, but I think we can try at least.

"Obviously we're still short on parts heading into China, but for Bahrain there will apparently be more batteries and more stock coming. China we can take more risk on Sunday."

James: Much more entertaining than expected, less crashes and retirements than expected, Ferrari strategists making bad calls as expected.

Stu: Great first race of the season, the new regs have enabled the cars to follow for longer and to be able to overtake, the first 10-15 laps was non stop action...more of that please for China and the rest of the season.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Melbourne

Image source, Getty Images

When the virtual safety car was called, Leclerc was approaching the pit lane entry. There was just about time to call him in had the team reacted quickly - as they arguably should have been prepared to do with Isack Hadjar's car where it was.

Stopping Hamilton would have been more comfortable, but they chose not do that either. They could have stopped the next time around, with the VSC still operating, but again both Ferraris stayed out.

Perhaps the team felt Mercedes would struggle to make it to the end with a single stop, but in the end it was no problem, and there will be questions as to whether Ferrari should have committed to staying in the lead fight given how they seemed able to match Mercedes at the time.

If you're just waking up and dipping into the page this morning, hello! It was an eventful opening race of the season in Melbourne, starting with Aussie Oscar Piastri crashing his McLaren on the way to the grid.

Mercedes are toasting a one-two at Albert Park but Charles Leclerc turned heads with his burst of pace off the line to take the race lead from polesitter George Russell.

The pair battled for control in the first few laps but Ferrari's decision not to pit under a virtual safety car after Red Bull's Isack Hadjar came to a stop maybe cost them a shot at glory today.

1. George Russell (Mercedes) - 25pts

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 18

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 15

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 12

5. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 10

6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 8

7. Oliver Bearman (Haas) - 6

8. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) - 4

9. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) - 2

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - 1

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McLaren's Lando Norris, who finished fifth, on Sky Sports: "We finished where we deserved to. I think it was quite clear that the Red Bull was quicker. Max came from last and almost beat us.

On McLaren's race: "Not the best race, in terms of pace but we struggled with some things on the car in the beginning. We made some tweaks and that certainly improved things. We are nowhere near where we need to be, clearly. But probably more so from a car perspective today. We are a long way off. We have a lot of work to do. We [Norris and Oscar Piastri] were running the same car.

On improvements: "This is not something that is going to happen overnight or in one or two week's time. I don't know what the gap was, 50? Almost a second a lap off, not quite like that. Some of that is still understanding the PU, some of it is just a better car. Ferrari, from what we can see, have the better car. For us to match that is zero chance at the moment. The more we can learn, the more we can understand and the better we can be."

Ross: Ferrari have the better car around the corners but Mercedes are much faster in a straight line due to their combustion ratio trick. However, Mercedes will lose that advantage from June, if not sooner. Early indications are Hamilton is faster in the Ferrari than Lerclec.

Roland: The new cars don’t really make much difference to the exciting, high-speed racing that we all love. Those first few laps were incredible….

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen started at the back of the grid and finished the race in sixth. Speaking to Sky Sports: "No, not really [I didn't enjoy it]. The overtakes were fun, but I'm also racing cars that are two seconds slower.

"For me, it's just clearing the traffic, it sounds maybe weird but it's just how I see it, it's not really a fair fight.

"I just try to go through as clean as possible and try and get into my rhythm at one point when I cleared the mid-field.

"We had too much degradation and we were just really graining a lot on the tyres and that then comprised a lot on the rest of the race.

"We talked that the hard compounds would be better today for us, but that compound somehow didn't work today."

On where the car is compared to its competitors: "Mercedes will be quick everywhere. With McLaren I don't know, in Bahrain it looked like they were faster, it's very hard to say.

"We just need to see track by track but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter if you're third or fourth fastest, we're aiming for the top.

"We're just trying to work to that steadily and I hope throughout the season we can close that gap because at the moment it's still a decent gap."

The Chinese Grand Prix comes thick and fast next weekend and teams and drivers are heading straight into the first sprint event of the season. One practice session to tweak your set-up before a full schdule of competitive action? How will these new 2026 cars cope with the demands of a shorter race and full grand prix?

The sprint race starts at 03:00 GMT next Saturday, followed by qualifying for the main event at 07:00. Lights out on Sunday in Shanghai for the 56-lap race is also at 7am, so a little bit kinder for the sleep paterns this time.

More from Arvid Lindblad, on pressure: "I've only done one weekend, I don't want to talk too much. Coming into this weekend, a lot of people said there was going to be a lot of pressure.

"In the end, I am here for myself. I worked my whole life to get to Formula 1, I don't have to do it for anyone. I am here for myself.

"When I was five years old, I had a dream and my dream was to be in Formula 1 and I am living my dream today and I want to do it as best as I possibly could."

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Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad, speaking to Sky Sports, about scoring points on his F1 debut: "I'm pretty speechless to be honest, it was a pretty nuts race. Coming into the weekend, points were not on the expectations. I had hopes after yesterday but I'm extremely happy. I'm extremely grateful to everyone from the team, from RBPT and Ford for giving me the package to fight.

"But to be honest, saying points on debut doesn't really summarise the race. Big P3 at one point in lap one was a lot more than I expected. I think I showed people a bit of what I am here to do.

On battling Max Verstappen: "In the end, I've been working my whole life to get into Formula 1, this weekend has been a very special moment for me. I have a lot of respect for the senior guys in the sport who have done an amazing job but I am also not going to roll over and give them the place.

"I am here to fight and when I am in the car, I am a ruthless competitor, I am going to take every inch that I can get. I think I showed that on lap one.

"I fell in love with the sport watching Lewis on the TV. He was a big reason why I wanted to be here today. It was pretty nuts to race with him today and it was a lot of pinch me moments today."

Anees: What a performance by Mercedes and George Russell! There is still a long way in the season to go but after this great drive I would still have him as favourite to win the title regardless of other teams getting closer as the season goes on!

Robert: Great start to the season, but hope it's not a one-horse season. Want more competition for front runners . If Mercedes run away with it, people will say they are cheating as before .

More from Lewis Hamilton: "I think all weekend I've been really strong and qualifying didn't show the true pace.

"We had a few problems in qualifying which meant I was further back than I should have been.

"I went into today and none of us really know what the true pace was going to be, but I felt great from the get-go and was obviously closing a gap right at the end to Charles [Leclerc].

"Right at the end I think I could have had Charles, maybe one or two more laps, so there's lots of positives to take.

"We've got a lot of work to do to catch Mercedes, but it's not impossible.

"I do believe we can close the gap, it's not going to be easy. It's quite significant particularly over a single lap, we need to find out if it was power or battery power.

"The car is just as quick through the corners so we've just got to keep pushing."

Jim: Five of the top eight finishers are British drivers, great to see. Proves that our talent is still being supported and developed.

Jane: A very enjoyable race, looking forward to the rest of the year. It always seems harsh that any car finishing doesn’t get at least 1 point.

Jake: The most exciting first 10 laps I can remember.

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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth, speaking to Sky Sports and asked about whether Ferrari should have pitted under the virtual safety car: "I really don't know I need to go back and have a look, but I'm really proud of the team I think they've done an amazing job to get the car to where it is.

"We're not as fast as the Mercedes and we've got work to do, but we're right in the fight and that was a really fun race. It felt good for me and also in a couple of more laps I would have had Charles [Leclerc].

"I had great pace and lots of positives to take from today."