George Russell led teammate Kimi Antonelli to Mercedes's 61st 1–2 finish after surviving an early battle against Charles Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton rounded out the podium alongside Leclerc for Ferrari. Russell's victory was his sixth in Formula One and marked the first time he led the Drivers' Championship; Mercedes simultaneously led the Constructors' Championship.
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no stand-in drivers. Arvid Lindblad made his debut as a full-time driver with Racing Bulls. Cadillac and Audi made their Formula One debuts; Cadillac's entry as the eleventh team made this the first Formula One race with 11 teams since the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
After last supplying Jaguar, Jordan, and Minardi in 2004, Ford returned to the grid after a 21-year absence, supplying Red Bull and Racing Bulls through Red Bull Powertrains. Honda made their full return after pulling out following the 2021 season, supplying engines to Aston Martin. After acquiring the Sauber team, Audi debuted supplying their own power unit.
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 compounds — designated hard, medium, and soft respectively — for teams to use at the event.
Three free practice sessions were held across the weekend of 6–8 March. The first free practice session on 6 March at 12:30 local time (UTC+11) was topped by Leclerc (Ferrari) ahead of Hamilton and Max Verstappen (Red Bull). The second session the same day at 16:00 local time was topped by Oscar Piastri (McLaren) ahead of Antonelli and Russell. The third session on 7 March, originally scheduled to start at 12:30 local time, was delayed 20 minutes due to a crash in the F3 round and was topped by Russell ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Red flags were brought out due to stoppages for Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams, power loss) and Antonelli (heavy crash).
Qualifying was held on 7 March 2026 at 16:00 local time (UTC+11). A red flag was shown in the opening segment after Verstappen locked his rear axle braking into the opening corner, sending him into a high-speed spin into the gravel without setting a time, which placed him twentieth ahead of Sainz and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), neither of whom went out due to power unit issues. The red flag period allowed Antonelli's car to be repaired following his FP3 crash.
A second red flag halted the third segment early after Antonelli was released with two cooling devices attached to his car; the first device was rolled into the turn one gravel trap, the second fell off on a straight and was run over by Lando Norris (McLaren), damaging his front wing endplate and creating debris. Mercedes recorded their first front-row lockout since the 2024 British Grand Prix. Russell's pole lap of 1:18.518 was eight-tenths faster than third-placed Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) at 1:19.303. The BBC said Mercedes's qualifying advantage sent "shockwaves through the paddock." Leclerc commented after the race that the gap in race pace would not be quite as large.
The race was held on 8 March 2026 at 15:00 local time (UTC+11) over 58 laps. Twenty of the 22 entrants started: Nico Hülkenberg's Audi suffered technical issues before the start, and Piastri crashed his McLaren on a reconnaissance lap after experiencing an unexpected power surge.
At the start, the Ferrari cars shot forward and Russell found himself sandwiched between Leclerc and Hamilton; Antonelli briefly dropped to seventh. Over the next several laps Russell and Leclerc repeatedly exchanged the lead — Russell used his electric boosts to overpower Leclerc at various turns, which drained his battery, allowing Leclerc to respond and retake the lead each time.
On lap 11, Hadjar — on his debut for the Red Bull team — retired with an engine issue, triggering a virtual safety car (VSC). Both Mercedes drivers pitted while both Ferrari drivers stayed out, planning a one-stop strategy and intending to pit later to gain a tyre advantage. The pit lane was subsequently closed on lap 16 when Valtteri Bottas's Cadillac retired with mechanical issues. By that point Russell was too close for Ferrari to pit and retain the lead. Ferrari made their pitstop midway through the race without the benefit of a safety car, ceding first and second to Russell and Antonelli.
Russell and Antonelli completed the race on 46-lap-old hard tyres. Despite Ferrari's tyre delta advantage, Russell posted essentially identical lap times to Leclerc after the latter pitted, prompting Leclerc to comment that Mercedes was hiding its true pace. In the closing laps Antonelli cut Russell's lead from six seconds to three and Hamilton closed in on Leclerc, but neither overtook their teammate.
Finishing fifth and sixth were the last two World Champions: Norris and Verstappen, the latter recovering from twentieth at the start. The two had a lengthy duel in the final half of the race before Verstappen suffered tyre wear and dropped off. Oliver Bearman (Haas) took seventh and Lindblad finished eighth on debut. Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi scored that team's first Formula One points in ninth. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) rounded out the top ten, holding off Haas's Esteban Ocon.
Sergio Pérez recorded Cadillac's first-ever Formula One finish in his return to the series. Stroll completed a 43-lap stint but was not classified as he did not complete 90% of the race distance; his teammate Fernando Alonso had an explosive start passing seven drivers before retiring the car, with ongoing development difficulties meaning neither Aston Martin had been expected to complete more than 25 laps.
Russell's victory allowed him to lead the Drivers' Championship for the first time, making him the first Mercedes driver to do so since Hamilton led the standings following the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship standings for the first time since the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where they won the title. Ferrari trailed with 27 points, with McLaren holding ten.
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