Pole Position Fantasy LeagueAustralia Grand Prix 2026 race report
Round 1 · Albert Park Circuit, Australia · 2026-03-08
Russell captains and Mercedes decide the opening round of PPFL
Cekunze's Team topped PPFL for the Australian Grand Prix with 152 points, a total shared by The Great Cornholio's Team, Pork chop racing's Team, Make Ferrari Great Again and Foksmashers. Cekunze's Team is listed first in the overall table, with no margin over those four teams.
Top 10 PPFL teams this race
| Rank | Team | Points | Drivers (points) | Constructor (points) | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Cekunze's Team | 152 | Russell (64), Hamilton (21) | Mercedes (67) | Russell |
| =1 | The Great Cornholio's Team | 152 | Russell (64), Hamilton (21) | Mercedes (67) | Russell |
| =1 | Pork chop racing's Team | 152 | Russell (64), Hamilton (21) | Mercedes (67) | Russell |
| =1 | Make Ferrari Great Again | 152 | Russell (64), Hamilton (21) | Mercedes (67) | Russell |
| =1 | Foksmashers | 152 | Russell (64), Hamilton (21) | Mercedes (67) | Russell |
| 6 | Piston Broke's Team | 141 | Russell (64), Gasly (10) | Mercedes (67) | Russell |
| =7 | Gibbs F1 Racing Team | 139 | Hamilton (33), Russell (39) | Mercedes (67) | Hamilton |
| =7 | Zarbie Racing | 139 | Hamilton (33), Russell (39) | Mercedes (67) | Hamilton |
| =7 | Destination F Racing | 139 | Hamilton (33), Russell (39) | Mercedes (67) | Hamilton |
| 10 | Ferrari Strategy Dept | 138 | Leclerc (41), Antonelli (30) | Mercedes (67) | Leclerc |
Mercedes was the common factor, appearing in all 10 of the top teams. George Russell appeared in 9 of them and was captain in 6. Cekunze's Team, The Great Cornholio's Team, Pork chop racing's Team, Make Ferrari Great Again and Foksmashers each scored 152 points with the same line-up: Russell as captain (64 points), Lewis Hamilton (21 points) and Mercedes (67 points). Piston Broke's Team reached 141 points by pairing the Russell captaincy with Pierre Gasly (10 points). Gibbs F1 Racing Team, Zarbie Racing and Destination F Racing made Hamilton captain for 33 points, with Russell scoring 39 points, and finished on 139 points. Ferrari Strategy Dept took 138 points by captaining Charles Leclerc (41 points) alongside Kimi Antonelli (30 points).
Overall standings after round 1
| Rank | Team | Total | This race | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Cekunze's Team | 152 | 152 | new |
| =1 | The Great Cornholio's Team | 152 | 152 | new |
| =1 | Pork chop racing's Team | 152 | 152 | new |
| =1 | Make Ferrari Great Again | 152 | 152 | new |
| =1 | Foksmashers | 152 | 152 | new |
| 6 | Piston Broke's Team | 141 | 141 | new |
| =7 | Gibbs F1 Racing Team | 139 | 139 | new |
| =7 | Zarbie Racing | 139 | 139 | new |
| =7 | Destination F Racing | 139 | 139 | new |
| 10 | Ferrari Strategy Dept | 138 | 138 | new |
As this is round 1, there are no previous ranks, so the table shows no climbers or drops. Cekunze's Team leads on 152 points, with four other teams level on that total and Piston Broke's Team 11 points behind. Gibbs F1 Racing Team, Zarbie Racing and Destination F Racing are 13 points off the lead, and Ferrari Strategy Dept in 10th is 14 points back. The average score across the 100 teams was 78.5 points, so the leading group finished well clear of the typical team.
Picks that made the difference
| Most picked | Owned by (teams) | Captained by (teams) | PPFL points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 27% (32) | 12% (14) | 21 |
| George Russell | 23% (28) | 15% (18) | 39 |
| Lando Norris | 19% (23) | 16% (19) | 16 |
| Oscar Piastri | 19% (23) | 13% (16) | -1 |
| Max Verstappen | 17% (20) | 15% (18) | 24 |
| Mercedes | 34% (41) | n/a | 67 |
| Ferrari | 21% (25) | n/a | 46 |
| McLaren | 12% (14) | n/a | 15 |
Russell was the best captain pick at 64 points, and 18 teams (15%) made that choice. The most-captained driver was Lando Norris, chosen by 19 teams (16%), who returned 26 points as captain. Oscar Piastri was captained by 16 teams (13%) and cost them 6 points. Verstappen was also captained by 18 teams (15%) and returned 32 points. The best differential was Antonelli, owned by 11 teams (9%), who scored 30 points, or 48 as captain for the 6 teams (5%) who chose that. Among the crowd favourites, Hamilton was the most-owned driver at 27% and scored 21 points. Russell, owned by 28 teams (23%), was the top-scoring driver on 39 points. Mercedes, owned by 41 teams (34%), was the top constructor with 67 points.
Guess the Podium
Nobody played Guess the Podium for this race.
Market Watch
No driver or constructor prices changed after this race.
The race in brief
Russell won from pole for Mercedes, with Antonelli in P2 and Leclerc in P3 for Ferrari. Verstappen set the fastest lap on lap 43 in 1:22.091 and finished P6 after starting from grid position 20, which earned him the fastest lap bonus. Six drivers did not finish: Stroll, Alonso, Bottas, Hadjar, Piastri and Hülkenberg, with Piastri's exit coming after an accident. Hamilton climbed from P7 on the grid to P4. Verstappen won the Driver of the Day vote with 30 percent, ahead of Leclerc on 14.23 percent.
Next race
Round 2: Chinese Grand Prix on 15 March 2026. Teams lock at the start of FP1. Discuss the race in the PPFL WhatsApp group.
Session times, what PPFL managers picked and F1 fantasy points by driver: Australia Grand Prix 2026 page. Prices after this race: F1 fantasy Price Form.