By the closing stages, Lewis Hamilton was at the end of his tether. “Leave me to it,” came the call to his (temporary) race engineer Carlo Santi, a remark we’ve become accustomed to hearing. No doubt the Briton’s blood was boiling underneath his yellow helmet as another podium opportunity at Ferrari passed him by in round one.
The Scuderia’s decision not to pit Hamilton after a dozen laps under a virtual safety car was questionable. Their call not to box either the Brit or teammate Charles Leclerc was downright ignorant. Mercedes, and their lead driver George Russell, were only too happy to walk through the door left wide open.
It was far more dramatic than the Silver Arrows and Russell would have wished but, ultimately, their irrepressible power was too much. Having lost his lead at the start to Charles Leclerc, Russell held his nerve, kept his cool and trusted the machinery beneath him.
Despite much fluctuation, Mercedes kept the front-row lockout they started with, as Russell won by three seconds to teammate Kimi Antonelli. It is Mercedes’s first one-two finish without Hamilton’s involvement since two F1 legends, in Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss, in 1955.
Leclerc, possibly the standout driver on the day, had to settle for third with Hamilton having to wait a bit longer for his first Scuderia podium. Fourth, once more. Lando Norris held off Max Verstappen’s 14-place charge to finish fifth and as for Oscar Piastri? The most dreaded of exits, with a shunt on a lap to the starting grid. Across Albert Park, dismay wherever you looked
Yet at the front, a few hours later, it was all shining black-and-silver. “Very nice, I like this car!” Russell said. “I like this engine, great job.” The favourite for a reason, even with 23 rounds remaining, it already feels like Russell’s title to lose.
“I made a bad start, some really tight battles,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming to have this car beneath me, but couldn’t have started out in a better way.”
Keeping his composure, amid the madness, was the fulcrum to his victory. Yet the drama, the Aussie heads twisting in disbelief throughout this spot, a stone’s throw from St Kilda beach, started 40 minutes before the season-opener even started.
On the customary reconnaissance laps to the starting grid, Melbourne-native Piastri inexplicably lost control at turn four, spinning into the wall and smashing the front of his McLaren car. There would be no recovery; there would be no home saviour. It was the most staggering of scenes to start 2026.
Thousands of Piastri fans, adorned in green t-shirts in the grandstands, sat down startled. And the Australian curse at their home grand prix – not one podium finish in 41 years – continues.
There was no shortage of drama when the lights went out. Ferrari’s epic race starts were the talk of testing a fortnight ago and, sometimes, the hype should be believed. Leclerc, starting in fourth, weaved his way smoothly through the field to take first at turn one while Hamilton – aided by an empty pit box in front of him due to Piastri’s absence – also stormed up the leaderboard from seventh to third.
And the opening exchanges were fierce. Leclerc and Russell swapped occupation of P1 multiple times with thrilling passes at the high-speed turn nine, as well as the slow right-hander at turn three. Hamilton watched on, best seat in the house, in third, waiting for any mistake.
It did not come. Russell and Leclerc’s race craft was first class, despite Russell’s criticism of one late defensive move. ”That was very dangerous by Leclerc,” he said.
And so it was to much irritation for all onlookers when Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who started P3 with Verstappen at the back, retired due to a mechanical failure. That brought out the virtual safety car, Mercedes boxed their men and the thrilling events at the front-of-the-pack were shaken-up.
Would this be a year of difference? Would Ferrari’s infamous blunderous strategy team rear its head once again? The answer would be yes. While the majority pitted, the Scuderia kept both their drivers out.
“At least one of us should have come in!” an apopleptic Hamilton appealed on the radio. By the time the opportunity was missed, Russell was just 10 seconds behind. ”How are they only 10 seconds?!” Hamilton queried. He wasn’t the only one perplexed by his team’s call.
Hamilton ordered fairness amongst the drivers, too. “My tyres are still OK – do not box me at the same time.” Point made. Leclerc was pitted on lap 25, before Russell caught up and effortlessly passed Hamilton, who was then ordered in. The mistake had already been made – it was a typical prancing horse error.
From that moment on, Russell’s victory looked inevitable. Young British drivers behind fought valiantly for positions and 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad, on debut, finished an impressive eighth, a spot behind comaptriot Ollie Bearman.
Yet the on-track action was limited in the final 20 laps or so. Verstappen, who started 20th, had stormed up to sixth by the time he met reigning world champion Norris, who was short on pace throughout the weekend but had enough to hold off his 2025 title rival.
But while Russell remained unbothered out in front, his former teammate Hamilton sighed once more. Desperate for this Ferrari move to work, will this be the moment he feels a certain sense of regret at that transfer? Perhaps so.
