Formula 1 season page

2026 Australian Grand Prix qualifying: George Russell took pole

George Russell took pole for Mercedes ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar at Melbourne.

Explore the race weekend, results, standings, drivers, teams, and related Formula 1 history.

Race recap

Pole
George Russell
Pole team
Mercedes
Front row
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli
Classified
Top 19
Round
1
Circuit
Melbourne
Qualifying date
March 7, 2026

The front of the grid

George Russell qualified first for Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli secured the other front-row place for Mercedes, with Isack Hadjar third for Red Bull.

How the classification lined up

The first three positions were George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, and Isack Hadjar. P4 through P19 were Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto, Nico Hülkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Alexander Albon, Franco Colapinto, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez, and Valtteri Bottas.

Team representation

Alpine placed 2 cars, Audi placed 2 cars, Cadillac placed 2 cars, Ferrari placed 2 cars, Haas placed 2 cars, McLaren placed 2 cars, Mercedes placed 2 cars, Racing Bulls placed 2 cars, Aston Martin placed 1 car, Red Bull placed 1 car, and Williams placed 1 car in the published classification. This summary reports only the supplied order and driver identities.

This summary sticks to the classification and does not speculate about incidents, strategy, weather, or causes. Source: F1DB (CC BY 4.0) · updated May 2, 2026.

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