Formula 1 in Australia
Mercedes strong: Russell takes first pole position of the year
Updated March 7, 2026 – 7:31 a.mReading time: 1 min.
In qualifying in Australia, Mercedes lived up to its role as favorite. In the end, George Russell is the fastest.
Mercedes demoralized the competition at the start of the new Formula 1 era and became favorites for the time being. George Russell secured pole position for the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday (Sunday, 5 a.m. in the live ticker on t-online), Kimi Antonelli completes the front row of the grid – the competition only followed Russell eight tenths of a second away.
Max Verstappen will start from the back of the field. The four-time world champion lost control of his Red Bull right at the start of his first fast lap, which hit the barriers hard. Verstappen was able to get out of the car independently, but then held his wrist.
Meanwhile, Audi put in an impressive first Formula 1 qualifying in its history. Nico Hülkenberg finished eleventh and missed the third round by just eight hundredths of a second, while teammate Gabriel Bortoleto snatched the last place from him and finished tenth. The declared goal for Audi is to regularly finish in the points in the first year.
Formula 1 is starting this year with completely new regulations, the cars are smaller and lighter, but the change in hybrid drive is even more serious: almost half of the energy now comes from an electric motor.
