Qualifying for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix delivered a series of unexpected twists and turns on Saturday, March 7, 2026, with several drivers facing issues before a single lap was even recorded. Carlos Sainz of Williams and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll both sat out the session, with Stroll’s absence stemming from ongoing problems with his Honda power unit.
Adding to the drama, Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes narrowly made it to qualifying after a late crash in the final practice session, with mechanics working furiously to repair his car just in time. A subsequent incident during Q1 further complicated matters.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen experienced a spin and crash early in the session, bringing out the red flags with 7.5 minutes remaining in Q1. The incident forced a temporary halt to proceedings as the track was cleared.
Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and Lance Stroll failed to advance to Q2.
The second qualifying session saw Nico Hülkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon, and Franco Colapinto eliminated from contention for pole position.
A surprising turn came as Gabriel Bortoleto, who initially made it into the top ten, was forced to retire his car on the way back to the pits.
Q3 was immediately interrupted by another red flag when Kimi Antonelli’s car shed a cooling fan on the track, which was then struck by Lando Norris’ McLaren, causing debris to scatter across the circuit.
George Russell of Mercedes secured the fastest time in Q3, with his teammate Kimi Antonelli joining him on the front row. Isack Hadjar of Red Bull and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari will start from the second row.
Start Grid
| P. | Driver | Team | Note |
| 1Â | George Russell | Mercedes | Â |
| 2Â | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | Â |
| 3Â | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | Â |
| 4Â | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Â |
| 5Â | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Â |
| 6Â | Lando Norris | McLaren | Â |
| 7Â | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | Â |
| 8Â | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | Â |
| 9Â | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | Â |
| 10Â | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | Â |
| 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi |  |
| 12 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | Â |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | Â |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Â |
| 15 | Alexander Albon | Williams | Â |
| 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | Â |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | Â |
| 18 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac |  |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | Â |
| 20 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | Â |
| 21 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | Â |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Â |
Third Section (Q3)
| P. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | Tire |
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:18.518 | Â | 8 | soft |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:18.811 | 0.293 | 7 | soft |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 1:19.303 | 0.785 | 7 | soft |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:19.327 | 0.809 | 8 | soft |
| 5 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:19.380 | 0.862 | 9 | soft |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:19.475 | 0.957 | 8 | soft |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:19.478 | 0.960 | 8 | soft |
| 8 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:19.994 | 1.476 | 6 | soft |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:21.247 | 2.729 | 6 | soft |
| 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | Â | Â | Â | Â |
7:21:
- Russell
- Antonelli
- Hadjar
- Leclerc
- Piastri
- Norris
- Hamilton
- Lawson
- Lindblad
- Bortoleto
7:19: The order continues to shift, but Mercedes remains at the front.
7:19: Russell takes the lead!
7:18: Antonelli briefly held the top spot.
7:15: Antonelli’s time was deleted.
7:15:
- Russell
- Norris
- Hadjar
- Leclerc
- Piastri
- Hamilton
7:13: Antonelli went off track.
7:10: We’re back in action…
7:05: And Norris ran over it…
7:04:Â It appears Mercedes had an issue with Antonelli. A cooling fan detached from his car on the straight.Â
7:03: There’s debris on the track…
7:02: Red flags…Â
7:01: Brown confirmed to Sky Sports that Lando Norris is having issues with energy deployment.
6:59: We’re getting ready to move…
6:56: The start of Q3 has been delayed. Bortoleto’s car is being cleared.
Second Section (Q2)
| P. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | Tire |
| 1Â | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:18.934 | Â | 6 | soft |
| 2Â | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:19.357 | 0.423 | 9 | soft |
| 3Â | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:19.435 | 0.501 | 6 | soft |
| 4Â | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:19.525 | 0.591 | 7 | soft |
| 5Â | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 1:19.653 | 0.719 | 6 | soft |
| 6Â | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:19.882 | 0.948 | 7 | soft |
| 7Â | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:19.921 | 0.987 | 8 | soft |
| 8Â | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:19.971 | 1.037 | 8 | soft |
| 9Â | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:20.144 | 1.210 | 8 | soft |
| 10Â | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:20.221 | 1.287 | 8 | soft |
| 11 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 1:20.303 | 1.369 | 8 | soft |
| 12Â | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:20.311 | 1.377 | 8 | soft |
| 13Â | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:20.491 | 1.557 | 8 | soft |
| 14Â | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:20.501 | 1.567 | 8 | soft |
| 15Â | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:20.941 | 2.007 | 8 | soft |
| 16Â | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:21.270 | 2.336 | 8 | soft |
6:53:Â Bortoleto stops on the entry to the pit lane!
6:50:Â Bortoleto makes it into Q3. Lindblad also makes it in his debut.
6:50: Hülkenberg, Bearman, Ocon, Gasly, Albon, and Colapinto will not advance.
6:48: Leclerc is second, but trails by over four tenths of a second.
6:46: Hamilton is sixth…
6:43: Hamilton aborted two attempts…
6:40: Russell leads, with a gap of 0.648s over Piastri.
- Russell
- Piastri
- Antonelli
- Hadjar
- Norris
- Lindblad
- Leclerc
- Lawson
- Bortoleto
- Ocon
- Gasly
- Bea
- Hul
- Col
- Alb
- Ham
6:35: Q2 is underway. All drivers are now on soft tires…
First Section (Q1)
| P. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps | Tire |
| 1Â | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:19.507 | Â | 8 | soft |
| 2Â | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:19.664 | 0.157 | 10 | soft |
| 3Â | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:19.811 | 0.304 | 9 | medium |
| 4Â | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:20.010 | 0.503 | 11 | soft |
| 5Â | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 1:20.023 | 0.516 | 6 | soft |
| 6Â | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:20.120 | 0.613 | 5 | soft |
| 7Â | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:20.226 | 0.719 | 7 | medium |
| 8Â | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 1:20.409 | 0.902 | 11 | soft |
| 9Â | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:20.491 | 0.984 | 10 | soft |
| 10Â | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 1:20.495 | 0.988 | 6 | soft |
| 11Â | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:20.759 | 1.252 | 10 | soft |
| 12 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 1:21.024 | 1.517 | 10 | soft |
| 13Â | Alexander Albon | Williams | 1:21.051 | 1.544 | 11 | soft |
| 14Â | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:21.138 | 1.631 | 10 | soft |
| 15Â | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:21.200 | 1.693 | 10 | soft |
| 16Â | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:21.247 | 1.740 | 10 | soft |
| 17Â | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:21.969 | 2.462 | 10 | soft |
| 18 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 1:22.605 | 3.098 | 7 | soft |
| 19Â | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 1:23.244 | 3.737 | 8 | soft |
| –Â | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | – | – | 2 | Â |
6:29: The drivers eliminated from Q1 are Alonso, Pérez, Bottas, and Verstappen. Sainz and Stroll did not set a time.
6:28: Colapinto bumps Alonso out of the top 18.
6:24: Sainz and Stroll will not be able to improve their times…
6:24:Â Hamilton on used mediums goes first, but is quickly overtaken by Russell and Piastri.
6:19: Verstappen and Antonelli are still in the garage.
6:17: Restart in two minutes…
6:16: Leclerc is 0.386s behind Russell, which isn’t bad considering he set his time on mediums.
6:14:
- Russell
- Leclerc
- Piastri
- Lindblad
- Hamilton
- Hadjar
- Norris
- Bortoleto
- Hul
- Bea
- Oco
- Law
- Gas
- Alb
- Col
- Alo
- Per
- Bot
- Ver (no time)
6:14: Verstappen braked at the end of the straight and the car immediately spun.
6:11:Â Verstappen crashes in the first corner!Â
6:10: Red flags…Â
6:10: Yellow flags…
6:10:Â Verstappen is on the track.
6:08: Hadjar is second…
6:07:Â Russell sets the fastest time: 1:19.840. He has a 0.655s lead over Bortoleto.
6:06: Waiting for Verstappen, Antonelli, Sainz, and Stroll…
6:03: Ferrari drivers are on mediums.
6:00: Qualifying begins…
5:58:Â
Q1: 18 minutes
Q2: 15 minutes
Q3: 13 minutes
5:57: Due to Cadillac’s entry, the format has changed, and 6 drivers will be eliminated in both Q1 and Q2.
5:56: There are question marks surrounding Aston Martin. Lance Stroll did not participate in FP3. And also regarding Antonelli, who crashed heavily in FP3. Mercedes wasn’t helped by the fact that the crash occurred at the end of the session, which was also delayed by 20 minutes.
5:55: What we have is the first qualifying session to set the grid, and Albert Park is a unique circuit.
5:54: Welcome to the live coverage of qualifying in Melbourne.
