The Australian Grand Prix 2026 kicks off the new Formula 1 season, and there’s plenty of intrigue heading into the opening race.
With major regulation changes set to shake up the grid, this year’s curtain-raiser in Melbourne could deliver surprises from the very start. We’ll bring you live updates from Sunday, along with everything you need to know about how to watch the race wherever you are in the world.
Australian Grand Prix 2026: Streaming Need to Know
- Date: Sunday, March 8
- Start Time: 11pm ET (day before) / 4am GMT / 3pm AEDT
- Free Stream: 10Play (AUS)
- US Stream: Apple TV+
- UK Stream: Sky Sports
- Watch from anywhere with NordVPN — Amazon Gift Card Included
Welcome to the Australian Grand Prix 2026!
Welcome to the Australian Grand Prix as we bring you live updates from Melbourne where the F1 season gets underway.
Welcome to Melbourne!
Thanks for joining us for a thrilling day of F1 action live from Melbourne!
The first Grand Prix of the season is set up to be a nail-biting event, so stick with us for all the twists and turns along the way.
McLaren are the favourites...or are they?
With the official debut of the new cars and teams for the first event of the season, it remains to be seen who will emerge victorious but McLaren is definitely the talk of the town.
Lando Norris dominated last season and Oscar Piastri has the Melbourne crowd on his side, so this will work in McLaren's favour. However, Mercedes is looking good with qualifying yesterday seeing the team put themselves in prime position.
Who will prevail? We'll soon see...
Oscar Piastri is out the race!
The Aussie has had a disaster right out the gate with substantial damage to his car before the race has even begun!
Heartbreaking scenes in his hometown of Melbourne as he clips the side and reties his car for the Grand Prix.
Piastri will not be able to compete so Lando Norris is the only one who can take home points for McLaren.
The Aussie fans are in tears.
McLaren team devastated
It's hard to convey how much of a blow this is to McLaren and the home crowd.
No one expected someone as accomplished as Oscar to be out before the race had even started but the show must go on.
As the fifth position, this means everyone will move up one including his teammate who was sixth and now will take Oscar's vacant spot.
One less car to pass, it certainly helps everyone down the line.
Everything Australian
We get a brief interview with Aussie cricket captain Pat Cummins, a bit of banter about how they absolutely thrashed the English at the Ashes also in Melbourne.
A blast of the Australian national anthem and then actions stations as we see the drivers getting ready as we count down to the start.
Mercedes look good before the race
Mercedes principal and CEO Toto Wolff sounds confident with his two drivers in prime position, but will any underdogs prevail?
Time will tell...
Five minutes until lights out!
Just five minutes until the first Grand Prix of the season begins! We hope you're ready for what promises to be an unpredictable race - with Oscar already out before the main event has begun.
Make sure to follow along and get on NordVPN if you're watching from outside Australia.
Warming up the tyres
The drivers have now begun the formation lap to warm up the tyres and get into grid formation.
Will there be any more surprises?
Lights out and away we go!
Here we go, strap in everyone!
Promising start for Ferrari
First and third position at the moment, Ferrari are looking strong.
Will Mercedes pose a threat in second place?
Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton dominate early doors
Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton are fighting it out at the front with some dicey moments including a foiled overtake from Hamilton.
Sixth place is Lindblad, the only rookie of the F1 season is doing extremely well. Maybe one to watch.
Otherwise a pretty stable race so far, 10 laps in.
Isaac Hadjar is out!
Another one bites the dust!
Hadjar's car seems to have malfunctioned and he's pulled over to end his time at the Australian Grand Prix.
The virtual safety card has been deployed.
It also appears Hulkenberg's race is over before it begun which means there's now only 19 cars in the race.
Plenty of drama.
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Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso also out!
And then there were 17.
You can hear the Spanish and Finnish fans sigh a collective sigh as their best prospects have retired from the race.
Bottas crew told him to stop so something must be seriously wrong with his car and we're finding out that the same thing happened to Alonso.
They're dropping like flies in Melbourne.
Fernando Alonso joins the race again
In a twist no one saw coming the veteran driver Fernando Alonso has rejoined the race after fixing his car in the pit.
He's a lap behind everyone so unless there's a miracle he will probably stay languishing in last place. You've got to admire him regardless.
Ferrari's bold strategy
Ferrari are attempting to do the whole race with just one pit stop. It's certainly a bold strategy, will it pay it off?
Mercedes and McLaren have also asked their team to do the same but their drivers were not confident in that strategy and opted for a second pit stop, including Norris who managed a very quick 2.5 second pit stop.
It's a gamble and could backfire massively.
A consistent top four
It's fair to say that Mercedes and Ferrari have dominated the top four positions so far, nothing if not consistent.
With less than 20 laps, Mercedes have their drivers in the number one and two spot but let's see how that pit strategy pays off.
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Aston Martin's drivers are both out!
We've focused so much on the front of the race that we didn't see Stroll, the only remaining driver from Aston Martin is now out!
That means Aston Martin will score a big fat zero for the Australian Grand Prix, their cars have failed to be up to snuff so far.
16 drivers left and only 12 laps until the end!
10 laps left!
Things are still looking pretty consistent up front with little movement among the rest of the pack too.
Will there be any major shocks in the last 10 laps?
Stroll-ing back in
Stroll of Aston Martin has decided to join in the competition again!
He's 12 laps behind so it's just practice laps for Aston Martin at this point.
5 laps left!
Will things start to unfold in the final five laps?
Battery power is a big part of this season and the drivers are all learning through trial and error what's working for them. Time will tell if this affects the final result.
Will Mercedes and Ferrari drivers overtake each other?
It's possible for Russell to be overtaken by Antonelli. It's also possible for Hamilton to overtake Leclerc. But will either teammate overtake the other?
It'll certainly be a tense locker room if so but keep watching to find out!
Final lap
Hamilton is in fourth place, will he make it to the much desired podium?
George Russell wins!
Russell from the UK crosses the line first for Mercedes, with his Italian teammate Antonelli closing second place.
A great start to the season for Team Mercedes.
Ferrari take third and fourth
Lerclerc and Hamilton take third and fourth, with the Brit missing out on the podium once more which he'll surely be gutted about.
Ferrari will be happy with this, probably keeping an eye on their main competitor Mercedes for the rest of the season.
A clean sweep for Mercedes and Ferrari.
Russell secures the first win of the season
Well, the first win of the season is an important one and Russell has secured it for Mercedes.
Will this put him in a good spot for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai? Only time will tell.
F1: In pictures
F1: In pictures
That's all folks!
Well, thanks again for joining us for our coverage of F1!
It's been a gripping race with Mercedes and Ferrari battling it out with the former securing a double victory.
I've been Dan and I'll speak to you very soon.
