Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Melbourne

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell took an imposing pole position as Mercedes dominated the first qualifying session of a new era of Formula 1 at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Briton led team-mate Kimi Antonelli by 0.363 seconds and was 0.785secs clear of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar in third place.

Max Verstappen crashed on his first lap to leave a degree of doubt as to the extent of Mercedes' superiority, but it was an impressive start to a new period of regulations by the former champions.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest, with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris separating him from his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Read the full report here

Image source, Getty Images

"The car is just mighty," George Russell told Sky Sports on a little walk around the pit lane. The Briton starts on pole position for the season-opener in Melbourne alongside his team-mate Kimi Antonelli and looks a good bet to take victory on Sunday.

With Max Verstappen in recovery mode after his big shunt in Q1, can Isack Hadjar become the first Red Bull driver other than the Dutchman to claim a podium finish since early 2024?

Hadjar's first job will be keeping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and home hero Oscar Piastri in the McLaren at bay. Piastri will be sharing a row with team-mate Lando Norris, who begins his title defence down in sixth place.

It's also been a great day for rookie Arvid Lindblad after the Brit made it through to the pole shootout. The 18-year-old will start ninth and inside the points on his F1 debut.

Who's ready for one more overnight shift? Good, because we'll be starting at 03:00 GMT on Sunday.

Lights out for the Australian Grand Prix is at 04:00.

Get yourselves to bed and we'll see you again tomorrow!

Harry Benjamin, Jennie Gow, Jolyon Palmer and Marc Priestley break down every detail of the new season of rules and regulations, plus world champion Lando Norris and Brit rookie Arvid Lindblad also stop by the podcast - which you can listen to on BBC Sounds and watch on the BBC iPlayer this season - to chat about their hopes for the 2026 campaign.

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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton will take his place in seventh on tomorrow's grid and he told F1 TV all was looking good up until Q2. "Q1 on the medium tyre was feeling solid," he added.

"I was feeling great and then in Q2 we had some problems with the engine and had to come in. That put a lot of pressure on us to go out and try to execute on a tyre we hadn’t driven yet and that was tricky.

"Q3 was just a mess for everybody. It was a bit random. I think there was a lot more performance in the car and we just didn’t execute it perfectly.

"If we had, I think we could have been third today. The car is much better, it is close between us all apart form Mercedes."

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen was knocked out of Q1 after crashing and will start the race in 20th. He spoke to Sky Sports: "I didn't speak to the team yet or look into any data, but to lose the car like that on the braking, I've never experienced that in my life.

"I hit the pedal and suddenly the whole rear axle just completely locked up, so definitely a bit weird."

On what happened: "I think it already went wrong before the downshift because as soon as I hit the pedal because you quite quickly downshift right, it already immediately locked on the bit of the brake pressure. Something very weird, that's for sure.

On the race: "There are still so many unknowns at the moment that we still need to get on top of. We will see what we can do tomorrow."

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter in Melbourne

BBC 5 Live's Jennie Gow speaking to Cadillac's Sergio Perez who qualified in P18: "I think we got the maximum out of the car, the team did a really good job operationally and that's all I can ask for.

On coming in as a new team: "It's quite tricky, all these new regulations and I'm still trying to understand them. Formula One is very different to what I used to do and what I used to remember.

"It's just getting used to this and I'm interested to see how the race goes tomorrow. I think overtaking will be very hard, but let's see what happens."

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Live

That is exactly what Red Bull have been missing, on those rare days that Max Verstappen doesn't turn up or he has a problem, they needed a second driver to be able to deliver.

They haven't had that for such a long time and this will be a real positive for them.

They know Verstappen has got the pace and they clearly had an issue with that particular car. If they get on top of that, could this be a Red Bull team that have two drivers in the fight?

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Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who qualifies in third place: “It was a very smooth qualifying; the run up to qualifying the whole weekend was a bit difficult.

"We were not really in a position to fight for the top three and I felt like the Ferraris and the McLarens were a bit quicker than myself.

"We kind of built up to it the whole qualifying session and it was a very good last lap."

On Sunday's race: "The only thing I can do is take them at the start, but they're just too fast at the moment. I want to keep my position and a second podium would be cool."

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Live

That was an unbelievable performance for Mercedes from both drivers!

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Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who starts on the front row in second: "It has been a stressful day. Unfortunately, in FP3, I went into the wall. But the guys, the mechanics, they were the heroes.

"They put the car back on track and we couldn't even set up the car, we just went out. Manged to put it on the front row, so really happy with that.

On crashing his car in final practice: "It was not easy, I really had to dig deep. I need to have a clean week next time because it definitely did compromise qualifying a bit. We have a race tomorrow to look ahead to and a good result is possible,"

Ben: "I am not sure what the rule makers were thinking, but 1.8 seconds between Pole and 10th? Really?"

Kris: "Is 2026 the year of the young blood?"

Image source, Reuters

Mercedes’ George Russell, who claims the first pole position of the season: "It was a great day. We knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until we get to this first Saturday of the season you never know.

"It really came alive this afternoon and especially with the track temperatures cool, we sort of take the favour of those conditions.

"I'm also really happy to have Kimi [Antonelli] here as well because it's been such a hard job from all the team to deliver this car and they've done an amazing job."

On the new car: "It's not easy to drive and it's not easy for the fans to understand. However, I'm excited for the race tomorrow and I think it can bring some quite exciting racing."

On the race: "I think a lot of simple things in the past like race starts and pit stops are a hell of a lot more challenging with these new cars.

"I said to everyone in the garage, let's just have a clean session because who knows what is going to happen tomorrow.

"We're obviously all going to work hard tonight and we've had a great day. Together we're in the best place possible."

Red Bull will also be very pleased tonight, as new driver Isack Hadjar has stepped straight in and picked up the pieces after Max Verstappen's crash in Q3. The Frenchman made the podium in Zandvoort last season and he'll be quitely confident he can claim a second this weekend in Australia, which would make up for his disappointment of not even starting the race in Melbourne 12 months ago.

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What a day it's been for Mercedes. From Kimi Antonelli crashing out in third practice to the Italian securing a front-row lockout with team-mate George Russell in qualifying. Will the Silver Arrows still be celebrating on Sunday on the Melbourne podium?

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11. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

12. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

15. Alex Albon (Williams)

16. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

17. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

18. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

19. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

20. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

21. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

1. George Russell (Mercedes) - 1:18.518

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.293

3. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.785

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.809

5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.862

6. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.957

7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.960

8. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.476

9. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +2.729

10. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) no time set

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on BBC Radio 5 Live

Wow! Hats off to both of those Mercedes drivers and to Kimi Antonelli, who delivered when it mattered.

George Russell then delivered something extraordinary. That's the fastest lap we've seen all weekend.

George Russell snatches back the top spot from Kimi Antonelli by 0.293 seconds to take pole position for the Australian Grand Prix.

Well done Isack Hadjar. The Red Bull driver takes third spot on his debut qualifying for the team!

Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli is purple in the middle sector on his first flying lap and he beats George Russell's time with the aid of a decent slipstream. Can the Italian stay there? Here comes Russell? ...