
Here are the complete F1 qualifying results from the 2026 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, at the Albert Park circuit.
Q2:
The two Mercedes drivers showed imperious pace on their first runs in Q2, with Russell popping in the first sub-1:19 lap as he clocked a 1:18.934 with his first attempt.
This was almost seven-tenths of a second clear of Antonelli, whose Mercedes didn’t appear quite as happy through the lap as his teammate’s – perhaps unsurprising, given his hefty crash and hasty repair after FP3.
Piastri managed to get between the two Mercedes drivers with his first attempt, but was over six-tenths down on Russell, while Hadjar gave Red Bull hope by jumping into fourth with a time almost eight-tenths off the Mercedes.
Having not put in a representative time on his first attempt, it took until three minutes remaining for Hamilton to follow his teammate into the top 10, jumping up to sixth to slot in behind Norris.
Into the final laps, and the drop zone consisted of both Alpines, both Haas, Albon, and Bortoleto.
Leclerc’s final attempt moved him up into second, four-tenths down on Russell, while Hadjar remained fifth ahead of Norris.
The bottom six remained unchanged, aside from Bortoleto and Hulkenberg swapping places as the German driver was the Audi driver to be eliminated.
An unusual incident returning to the pits saw Bortoleto come to a halt in the entry lane, with Lawson being blocked in behind the Audi as a consequence. Entering the pits at normal speed, Lindblad almost collided with the back of his teammate as he took to team radio to exclaim his surprise at finding two cars almost stationary in the entry.
- 1. George Russell Mercedes 1:18.934
- 2. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.423
- 3. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.501
- 4. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.591
- 5. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +0.719
- 6. Lando Norris McLaren +0.948
- 7. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.987
- 8. Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls +1.037
- 9. Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1.210
- 10. Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +1.287
- 11. Nico Hulkenberg Audi +1.369
- 12. Oliver Bearman Haas +1.377
- 13. Esteban Ocon Haas +1.557
- 14. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.567
- 15. Alex Albon Williams +2.007
- 16. Franco Colapinto Alpine +2.336
Q1:
With 22 cars in F1 2026, the rules have been tweaked to remove the bottom six drivers from the first part of qualifying.
The Ferrari drivers used the medium tyres for their first attempts in Q1, with Hamilton half a second off the quick times initially set by Russell, Piastri, and Lindblad on the soft tyres.
Halfway through Q1, the session was red-flagged due to a crash as Max Verstappen went off in his RB22.
Approaching Turn 1, the rear axle of his Red Bull appeared to lock as he hit the brakes, and he spun off the track before colliding with the tyre barriers. Verstappen took to the team radio to state that he’s suffered rear locking, leaving him facing the wrong way even before the corner apex.
The crash resulted in a short intermission in the session, before resuming 10 minutes later.
The stoppage did help Mercedes finish its repairs to Kimi Antonelli’s Q17 after his FP3 crash, allowing the Italian driver to join the action when the session resumed with just over seven minutes remaining.
Still on the medium tyres, Hamilton went quickest with a 1:19.811 to get ahead of Russell, while Antonelli’s first attempt saw him leap into third place behind his teammate.
With two minutes remaining and times dropping, Piastri went quickest, before Russell took back top spot with a 1:19.507, while replays showed Leclerc hadn’t been able to match Hamilton’s time as he slid wide at Turn 3.
Russell’s time went unbeaten at the chequered flag, with the two Ferrari drivers making it through into Q2 on the medium compound tyres.
With Verstappen knocked out due to his crash, joining him on the sidelines were Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in 17th, and the two Cadillac drivers, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, in P18 and P19.
Neither Williams’ Carlos Sainz nor Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll managed to make it into the session, having been unable to get their cars ready in time to take part.
- 1. George Russell Mercedes 1:19.507
- 2. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.157
- 3. Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.304
- 4. Lando Norris McLaren +0.516
- 5. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +0.516
- 6. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.613
- 7. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.719
- 8. Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls +0.902
- 9. Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.984
- 10. Gabriel Bortoleto Audi +0.988
- 11. Esteban Ocon Haas +1.252
- 12. Nico Hulkenberg Audi +1.517
- 13. Alex Albon Williams +1.544
- 14. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.631
- 15. Franco Colapinto Alpine +1.693
- 16. Oliver Bearman Haas +1.740
- 17. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +2.462
- 18. Sergio Perez Cadillac +3.098
- 19. Valtteri Bottas Cadillac +3.737
- 20. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing No time
- 21. Carlos Sainz Williams No time
- 22. Lance Stroll Aston Martin No time
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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