Australian Grand Prix 2026: Race Times, F1 Fantasy Picks & Results

The Australian Grand Prix is round 1 of the 2026 Formula 1 season at Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne, Australia, with the race on Sun 8 Mar. PPFL teams locked at the start of FP1 (Fri 6 Mar, 01:30 UK time).

Australian Grand Prix 2026 session times

Session	UK	US Eastern	US Pacific	Australia (Sydney)	Local (Melbourne)
Practice 1	Fri 6 Mar, 01:30	Thu 5 Mar, 20:30	Thu 5 Mar, 17:30	Fri 6 Mar, 12:30	Fri 6 Mar, 12:30
Practice 2	Fri 6 Mar, 05:00	Fri 6 Mar, 00:00	Thu 5 Mar, 21:00	Fri 6 Mar, 16:00	Fri 6 Mar, 16:00
Practice 3	Sat 7 Mar, 01:30	Fri 6 Mar, 20:30	Fri 6 Mar, 17:30	Sat 7 Mar, 12:30	Sat 7 Mar, 12:30
Qualifying	Sat 7 Mar, 05:00	Sat 7 Mar, 00:00	Fri 6 Mar, 21:00	Sat 7 Mar, 16:00	Sat 7 Mar, 16:00
Race	Sun 8 Mar, 04:00	Sat 7 Mar, 23:00	Sat 7 Mar, 20:00	Sun 8 Mar, 15:00	Sun 8 Mar, 15:00

Times for UK, US Eastern, US Pacific, Sydney and the circuit's local time. See the full 2026 F1 race calendar.

What PPFL managers picked

For the Australian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was the most-picked driver (26.7% of teams), Lando Norris the most popular captain (19 teams, 15.8%), Mercedes the favourite constructor (34.2%). 120 teams · 0 changed their team for this race.

Driver	Team	Picked by	Captain
Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	26.7%	11.7% (14)
George Russell	Mercedes	23.3%	15% (18)
Lando Norris	McLaren	19.2%	15.8% (19)
Oscar Piastri	McLaren	19.2%	13.3% (16)
Max Verstappen	Red Bull	16.7%	15% (18)
Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	14.2%	9.2% (11)
Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	11.7%	2.5% (3)
Oliver Bearman	Haas	10%	–
Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	9.2%	5% (6)
Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	7.5%	4.2% (5)

Constructor	Picked by
Mercedes	34.2%
Ferrari	20.8%
McLaren	11.7%
Aston Martin	9.2%
Alpine	5.8%

Most popular full team: George Russell + Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes (8 teams, 6.7%).

How the most-picked drivers scored

Lewis Hamilton (owned by 26.7%): 21 pts
George Russell (owned by 23.3%): 39 pts
Lando Norris (owned by 19.2%): 16 pts
Oscar Piastri (owned by 19.2%): -1 pts
Max Verstappen (owned by 16.7%): 24 pts

Best differential: Kimi Antonelli, owned by only 9.2% of teams, scored 30 PPFL points.

Australian Grand Prix 2026 results and F1 fantasy points

Top PPFL team this race: Cekunze's Team with 152 points (tied with 4 other teams).

For the Australian Grand Prix, 100 PPFL teams averaged 78.5 points; the top-scoring driver was George Russell with 39 PPFL points; Max Verstappen gained the most places: 14, from P20 to P6.

The race data below comes from F1DB, the open-source Formula 1 database (release v2026.20.0), licensed under CC BY 4.0. PPFL points are our own.

George Russell took pole in 1:18.518; Max Verstappen set the fastest lap, 1:22.091 on lap 43; Max Verstappen was Driver of the Day with 30% of the fan vote.

Qualifying

Pos	Driver	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	George Russell	1:19.507	1:18.934	1:18.518
2	Kimi Antonelli	1:20.120	1:19.435	1:18.811
3	Isack Hadjar	1:20.023	1:19.653	1:19.303
4	Charles Leclerc	1:20.226	1:19.357	1:19.327
5	Oscar Piastri	1:19.664	1:19.525	1:19.380
6	Lando Norris	1:20.010	1:19.882	1:19.475
7	Lewis Hamilton	1:19.811	1:19.921	1:19.478
8	Liam Lawson	1:20.491	1:20.144	1:19.994
9	Arvid Lindblad	1:20.409	1:19.971	1:21.247
10	Gabriel Bortoleto	1:20.495	1:20.221
11	Nico Hülkenberg	1:21.024	1:20.303
12	Oliver Bearman	1:21.247	1:20.311
13	Esteban Ocon	1:20.759	1:20.491
14	Pierre Gasly	1:21.138	1:20.501
15	Alexander Albon	1:21.051	1:20.941
16	Franco Colapinto	1:21.200	1:21.270
17	Fernando Alonso	1:21.969
18	Sergio Pérez	1:22.605
19	Valtteri Bottas	1:23.244

Drivers' championship after round 1

Pos	Driver	Points
1	George Russell	25
2	Kimi Antonelli	18
3	Charles Leclerc	15
4	Lewis Hamilton	12
5	Lando Norris	10
6	Max Verstappen	8
7	Oliver Bearman	6
8	Arvid Lindblad	4
9	Gabriel Bortoleto	2
10	Pierre Gasly	1

Constructors' championship after round 1

Pos	Constructor	Points
1	Mercedes	43
2	Ferrari	27
3	McLaren	10
4	Red Bull	8
5	Haas	6
6	Racing Bulls	4
7	Audi	2
8	Alpine	1
9	Williams	0
10	Cadillac	0
11	Aston Martin	0

Full race result

Pos	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time / gap	F1 pts	PPFL pts	Notes
1	George Russell	Mercedes	58	1:23:06.801	25	39
2	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	58	+2.974	18	30
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	58	+15.519	15	26
4	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	58	+16.144	12	21
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	58	+51.741	10	16
6	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	58	+54.617	8	24	Fastest lap; Driver of the Day
7	Oliver Bearman	Haas	57	+1 lap	6	17
8	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	57	+1 lap	4	8
9	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	57	+1 lap	2	6
10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	57	+1 lap	1	10
11	Esteban Ocon	Haas	57	+1 lap		4
12	Alexander Albon	Williams	57	+1 lap		6
13	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	57	+1 lap		-4
14	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	56	+2 laps		4
15	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Williams	56	+2 laps		10
16	Sergio Pérez	Cadillac	55	+3 laps		4
NC	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	43	+15 laps		-5
DNF	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	21	Mechanical		-5
DNF	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	15	Fuel system		-5
DNF	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	10	Engine		1
DNS	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	–	Accident		-1
DNS	Nico Hülkenberg	Audi	–	Hydraulics		-5

PPFL fantasy points by driver

Points before the captain bonus (a captain's race finish points are doubled).

Driver	Team	Grid	Finish	PPFL pts
George Russell	Mercedes	P1	1	39
Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	P2	2	30
Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	P4	3	26
Max Verstappen	Red Bull	P20	6	24
Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	P7	4	21
Oliver Bearman	Haas	P12	7	17
Lando Norris	McLaren	P6	5	16
Pierre Gasly	Alpine	P14	10	10
Carlos Sainz Jr.	Williams	P21	15	10
Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	P9	8	8
Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	P10	9	6
Alexander Albon	Williams	P15	12	6
Esteban Ocon	Haas	P13	11	4
Franco Colapinto	Alpine	P16	14	4
Sergio Pérez	Cadillac	P18	16	4
Isack Hadjar	Red Bull	P3	DNF	1
Oscar Piastri	McLaren	P5	DNS	-1
Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	P8	13	-4
Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	P22	NC	-5
Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	P17	DNF	-5
Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	P19	DNF	-5
Nico Hülkenberg	Audi	P11	DNS	-5

Read the Australian Grand Prix 2026 race report: the story of the race and what it meant for PPFL teams.

Driver of the Day history at Albert Park

The fan-voted Driver of the Day at every race held here since the vote began.

2026: Max Verstappen (30.0% of the vote)
2025: Lando Norris (24.0% of the vote)
2024: Carlos Sainz Jr. (38.4% of the vote)
2023: Sergio Pérez (21.3% of the vote)
2022: Charles Leclerc (19.7% of the vote)
2019: Valtteri Bottas (28.4% of the vote)
2018: Fernando Alonso
2017: Sebastian Vettel
2016: Romain Grosjean

Recent Australian Grand Prix winners

Planning your team? Check driver and constructor values on the F1 fantasy Price Form and the Albert Park circuit guide.

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