Race Report: Starting the New F1 Era in Style with 1-2 in Melbourne!

• George Russell finished first with Kimi Antonelli second in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

• The duo lined up first and second on the grid with the Medium tyre, but it was no easy run to the flag with multiple challenges to overcome.

• Both drivers lost spots off the line with George and Kimi having a low battery level as the lights went out; George dropped to second with Kimi falling to P7.

• The Italian fought back immediately and cycled through to P4, behind George and the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in the opening laps.

• George meanwhile enjoyed a back-and-forth battle with the Monegasque driver with the lead changing hands multiple times with the Ferrari able to edge ahead as the race settled down.

• The race complexion changed on lap 12 with the Virtual Safety Car deployed to rescue the stranded Red Bull of Isaac Hadjar.

• George and Kimi boxed for the Hard tyre whilst Ferrari stayed out; they both held and gained track position but had to forfeit that when they made their first stops.

• Whilst the early stop left the team with the option of two-stopping, it became clear as the Grand Prix progressed that degradation was low and the pace was sufficient to one-stop.

• Both George and Kimi managed their car and tyres to the end to take a 1-2 finish, the 61^st for Mercedes in F1 and the three-pointed star’s 132^nd victory in the top tier of the sport.

• It also marked the first 1-2 for the team with a full line-up from the junior programme.

• The team is back on track next week as the second round of the 2026 season takes F1 to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix.

Kimi Antonelli

What an afternoon and what a weekend! It has not been easy on my side of the garage here in Melbourne, but we’ve come away from here with a great result. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Lauda Drive and Morgan Drive; they’ve produced a really strong car and a platform for us to build on. This 1-2 is for them and due to all the hard work and effort they’ve put in over several years.

Coming to the grid, I had a lower battery level so the start was very stressful! We obviously made a slow launch but from there our recovery was good and our pace was strong. That enabled us to fight our way back to the Ferraris and ultimately, after we went through the pitstops, to take a 1-2 for the team.

There is a lot we’ve learned about our car and how to operate within these new regulations this weekend. Whilst we were the strongest team in Melbourne, we are going to have to work really hard to stay ahead. I’m now looking forward to China and seeing what we can do in Shanghai.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It's a great result for everyone at Lauda Drive and Morgan Drive to start the new era of F1 with a 1-2. Preparing for this year has been a long road, with many difficult moments, but every member of the team should be proud that the effort has paid off.

The start was difficult; we didn't do a good enough job of managing the limited energy around the formation lap and both drivers ended up at with low battery on the line. Kimi in particular became a sitting duck off the line. George fared slightly better but still lost a lot of ground. The drivers did a great job to stay out of trouble but dropped a lot of places and we had to go into recovery mode. The strategy team did well reacting to the incidents and ultimately the car had good pace.

We weren't quite sure if the one stop was a possibility having pitted so early but both drivers managed the tyres well. It was nice to see that we could hold the gaps to the chasing cars in the final stint. There is plenty that we need to improve on, but the team and drivers should be pleased with a great start to the season.

Race Result