The Australian Grand Prix opens the season with a technical picture that, even with all the caution typical of the first race, is already starting to outline some fairly clear hierarchies, at least for this start of the season. The Mercedes one-two confirms the expectations of the eve, despite a first part of the race that saw Ferrari in battle. Overall, the gaps between the teams appear decidedly wide, but there is also a clear impression of a very steep learning curve that is still at the beginning for practically everyone, so great evolutions in all aspects can be expected very quickly in the coming races.
Mercedes hasn’t finished hiding yet. Russell ready, Antonelli needs to grow quickly
George Russell’s victory certainly comes as no surprise, taking advantage of a Mercedes that is undoubtedly the best car on the grid. The advantage seen in the exploitation of the power unit in qualifying was clear, but even in the race, once they took the lead, the two standard-bearers of Toto Wolff’s team gave the impression of being in total management of the lead, limiting themselves to practically mimicking the times of the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton behind them at will. The partial gamble of the early stop saw both Russell and Antonelli struggle with a certain amount of front graining, but (curiously) without lap times being particularly affected, a sign precisely of an approach in great race management. Between the two drivers, George Russell certainly seems ready for the world title climb, while Antonelli gives the impression of having to grow quickly this season if he wants to fight with his teammate, given that an internal team title fight also requires a certain amount of psychological warfare, which Russell has already started to do by not naming the young Italian among his main rivals for the championship and thanking the team for allowing his teammate to participate in qualifying, in perfect “team leader and his wingman” style. It’s part of the Formula 1 game, as it always has been.
Ferrari: good chassis and tire management. The small turbo helps with full tanks. Hamilton is back
Ferrari leaves Melbourne with a much more positive race than qualifying, but also with some shadows compared to the overall picture. The red car was undoubtedly the second force in the race, but if the ambition is the title, the gap seen from the Mercedes leaders still appeared consistent. Vasseur estimated it roughly at about half a second in the race, and it is probably a correct assessment. At the start and in the first part of the race, Leclerc and Hamilton still held their own against their Anglo-German rivals, confirming the rumors of the eve that spoke of an SF26 particularly competitive with a completely full tank. The smaller turbo used on the Italian car could be one of the factors in this regard, being more effective “at the bottom” and guaranteeing better traction at the start, as we saw, and coming out of corners with a heavy car. The situation was different towards the end of the race, with a lighter car that exploits less low-end torque and instead sees the need for “high-end” power provided by a larger turbocharger group like the Mercedes one. Chassis-wise, the Maranello car still proved to be excellent, perhaps (limited to what was seen in Australia) one of the best of the recent era, with an excellent level of aerodynamic downforce, good balance, and tire management not inferior to Mercedes. The problems seem to come when it’s a matter of squeezing the power unit towards its limit both in terms of horsepower and, above all, on the issue of energy management and with the qualifying mapping. We’ll see if anything changes from this point of view in China. On the driver front, Leclerc does not disappoint expectations with a solid race and a first part that was a “racecraft” lesson with Russell, despite the infinite difficulties of managing the new cars. On pace, however, the Monegasque did not appear exceptional, with a setup not entirely centered as he himself stated after the race and a car not always in the ideal window. On the contrary, Lewis Hamilton had one of his best races with Ferrari and the impression is that of seeing a totally different Hamilton compared to last season. The Englishman was particularly fast in the second stint, able to cancel the over 7-second gap he had from Leclerc after the pit stop and to recover about 3 seconds even from Russell’s Mercedes. A Hamilton in “hammer time” version appeared lively even in his statements and certainly has as his first objective to keep his teammate on his toes, which can only be helpful for Ferrari in this season where growth is important and the comparison between drivers could significantly help also in terms of development choices.
Qualifying: party mode is back
One of the points where Ferrari appeared lacking is precisely the exploitation of the Power Unit in qualifying and it is important to underline that the “single mapping” rule between qualifying and the race, in force since 2020, has always been limited to the mapping of the internal combustion engine, while the hybrid delivery map has always been modifiable between sessions. With the electric part so fundamental in overall performance, the relative mapping becomes crucial and the differences between qualifying and the race seen in this profile were notable, with Mercedes the absolute queen of qualifying mapping, approached only by Red Bull, which appears particularly effective in terms of delivery on a single lap. In fact, the famous “Party Mode” of a few years ago seems to have returned to the track, but in an electric version. In Australia, this particular phase was the one that most of all put Ferrari in difficulty among the four top teams. It will obviously be necessary to re-evaluate everything starting from China next Sunday.
McLaren far behind on race pace, lacking downforce and weight is not yet right
Among the top teams, McLaren confirms the difficulties already glimpsed in testing. Beyond Piastri’s incredible accident at less than 170 km/h on the out lap, the race pace shown by Norris, and above all the tire management, appeared quite deficient compared not only to Mercedes, but also to Ferrari. The speed with which the front graining was triggered on the reigning World Champion’s car brings to mind the typical problems of past seasons, combined with an aerodynamic downforce that is not yet sufficient and a car weight that evidently has not yet reached the limit. On a track like Melbourne, these are very limiting factors, but it is clear that in Woking the starting point is not that of last season and there is a need to work to bring a significant step also from the point of view of aerodynamics and balance, as well as studying in detail the use of the Mercedes power unit, after having collected data on how it is exploited by the parent company’s team.
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Verstappen excellent comeback, super Lindblad and Bearman, Audi doing well
Also to be highlighted is the comeback of Max Verstappen, who easily reached Lando Norris, confirming a very interesting potential for Red Bull, likely the third force in Australia. It should also be added that the wide gaps between the teams seen at the start of this season mean that the fastest can pass the slowest like bowling pins and this evidently facilitated the comeback of the four-time world champion. Then extraordinary was Lindblad’s debut for speed, sporting arrogance but also maturity and race management, a phenomenal weekend that will be very interesting to see if the only “rookie” of the ’26 season can repeat in the next stages. Bearman also did very well, capitalizing on the good initial feeling of the Haas, as did Bortoleto, who brings the first points to the debuting Audi.
Ferrari strategy too cautious, but without real regrets
On the strategic front, Ferrari chose a conservative line during the first Virtual Safety Car and the natural doubt is how much of the race was lost in that circumstance. Hamilton himself complained over the radio asking that at least one of the two cars stop to take advantage of the opportunity. The judgment in this case is twofold. From the point of view of the final result, it would hardly have changed anything, with a Mercedes increasingly competitive as the laps went by and in total control of the race in every phase. The only warning light concerns the management of the Hamilton-Leclerc duo, in which one often has the impression that the pit wall chooses to do nothing so as not to end up penalizing one of the two drivers. In general, however, it must be said that the very early stop would have posed more than one concern regarding the tires and that it is normal in these initial phases not to have certain data on degradation in various conditions yet, so a conservative choice is also understandable, without the need to insist on futile controversies.
Mario Kart-style overtakes: exciting or not?
The first part of the race was characterized by a series of overtakes and counter-overtakes even at the front of the race, and this certainly pleased a part of the audience. The writer does not experience those types of overtakes as particularly exciting, as they are dictated by the level and use of the battery, rather than by a driving risk taken by the driver, also generating a certain confusion. The race with these new cars, in any case, was decidedly less anomalous than qualifying, for which some regulatory intervention is urgent, given that much of the charm in that type of session (so beautiful and enjoyable for fans and non-fans alike) seemed to have vanished into thin air on the Australian Saturday. It should however be remembered that Melbourne is one of the most challenging tracks from an energy point of view and not all circuits will present similar conditions. To truly understand the balance of the championship, it will therefore be necessary to wait at least for the next races, starting with Shanghai.
