It took just 10 minutes for F1’s brave new world - for better or for worse - to explode into life in Australia. Max Verstappen, the sport’s standout driver, was three seconds into setting his first qualifying lap of the season when, with no visible trigger, the usually immaculate Dutchman was left spinning violently into the wall. It wouldn’t be the last stoppage of a chaotic opening qualifying session.
Yet while others toiled, laboured and moaned around him, George Russell kept it clean to seal the pole position his Mercedes rocketship deserved. Oddly stagnant in Friday practice, the Silver Arrows finally turned up all the dials to maximum to send a sizable statement at the season-opener, locking out the front row and nearly a full second clear of the rest.
Russell, rightly billed as the bookies' favourite for this season, having seen compatriot Lando Norris beam in his moment in the sun last year, kept his nose clean and out of the mayhem, and went three-tenths quicker than his teammate Kimi Antonelli in second. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, the next-best in third, was eight-tenths off the pole-sitter.
“I didn’t think it’d be that good,” Russell said afterwards. “Definitely surprised, conditions were good for us, it was a bit cooler.
“We’ve got a very good engine beneath us but also an amazing car - that hasn’t been highlighted enough in the press. It’s a perfect way to start.”
For the rest of the pack, however? There is some mighty catching up to do. Charles Leclerc will start in fourth and, given Ferrari’s rapid race starts in testing, perhaps he can create some drama at turn one on Sunday. If not, it is hard not to see Russell - and Antonelli for that matter, who responded so impressively after a massive crash earlier on in practice - sailing off into the sunset.
Lewis Hamilton looked right in contention until the final phases of qualifying, when Ferrari struggled with the much-maligned energy deployment of these new 2026 cars. The 41-year-old, desperate for his move from Mercedes a year ago not to go down as a dud, voiced his suspicion surrounding Mercedes’s “engine power” and the compression ratio saga, which dominated pre-season.
“I don’t think we can catch Mercedes,” he said, having only qualified seventh on the grid, behind the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and reigning world champion Norris. “What’s clear is that they [Mercedes] didn’t show the engine power through any of the practice, all the compression ratio [stuff], they’ve done a solid job with their engine.
“I want to understand... it was two-tenths or more just through power in the first sector. If it’s the compression ratio, I want to understand why the FIA haven’t done anything. But if not, then we have to do a better job.”
To an extent, the row has been put to bed, with the FIA modifying the rules to be a level playing field come the Monaco Grand Prix in June. Yet by this evidence, Mercedes could already be dozens of points clear. The situation has similarities to Jenson Button’s triumph with Brawn in 2009 and their double-diffuser trick, which propelled them to the front at the start.
TOP-10 - AUSTRALIAN GP QUALIFYING
1) George Russell
2) Kimi Antonelli
3) Isack Hadjar
4) Charles Leclerc
5) Oscar Piastri
6) Lando Norris
7) Lewis Hamilton
8) Liam Lawson
9) Arvid Lindblad
10) Gabriel Bortoleto
Verstappen’s crash was not the only snippet of early chaos. The Dutchman won’t even be right at the back-of-the-grid, with Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll failing to even feature in qualifying, as several teams grappled with serious issues as they adapt to this new breed of car.
Verstappen’s shunt also had the trigger-effect of helping Antonelli, who himself endured a turn-one crash at the end of final practice. Remarkably, his mechanics worked speedily to fix the smashed-up car, with the session stoppage after Verstappen’s crash helping their cause.
Yet come the finale in Q3, McLaren had no answer to the pace of their engine provider. Norris, riding so high a few months back in Abu Dhabi, was despondent in the media pen afterwards. And pointed in his remarks.
“Not very good, not very nice,” he told Sky Sports F1 of these new cars. “I think George [Russell] will be the only one saying it was nice.” When asked how racing laps might feel to qualifying laps, Norris replied: “It already sucks, so it’s probably going to be even worse.”
Verstappen, who described his crash as “weird” given a random rear-axle failure, has called on the FIA to make some changes, given the regularity of drivers having to shift down a gear before the end of a straight after maxing out power. The sound of the engine, no less, is somewhat excruciating on the broadcast.
“I mean, you can make up your mind, but I think, if you look at the onboard, you’ll see I’m right,” he said. “There’s nothing that you can do.
“You can only make it slower, and then, of course, you get a bit more of a normal speed trace, but it’s a slower speed trace.”
“The formula is just not correct, and that is something that is a bit harder to change. But I think we need to.” Speaking to Dutch media, he added: "I’m not enjoying it at all. Emotionally and feeling-wise, I’m completely drained. This has very little to do with racing."
Conversation around the cars will rumble on in the background. Ten teams may well be pushing in one direction. But not one. And Russell will be buoyant that now, five years into his Mercedes journey, he looks to have been given the machinery to launch his own long-heralded title assault.
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris hit out at new F1 cars: ‘They need to change’
Lewis Hamilton suspicious of Mercedes ‘engine power’ after disappointing Australian GP qualifying
F1 grid: Starting positions for Australian Grand Prix
F1 Australian GP live: Race start time with Verstappen at the back after shock crash
George Russell wants to ‘make hay’ after dominating Australian GP qualifying
Max Verstappen and Lando Norris hit out at new F1 cars: ‘They need to change’
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