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Classification Chronicle - Australia Grand Prix 2026

Albert Park Circuit

The classification session started under a partially cloudy sky and with the asphalt still somewhat cold in the first turns. The teams opted for different approaches: McLaren and Ferrari soon left with the soft compound to mark reference times, while Red Bull preferred to wait a couple of minutes to have better temperature on the tyres.

Q1 (18 minutes)

In the first minutes, Lando Norris marked the first reference time with 1: 17,244. Leclerc responded almost immediately and stood ahead. Verstappen, who had had a small block in his first quick turn, stayed momentarily out of top 10 and had to abort an attempt.

In the middle of the session, the pace went up. Piastri got between the first two with a 1: 17,012, and Hamilton did the same. At the bottom of the table, the struggle to avoid elimination was very tight. Bortoleto, Hadjar and Bearman were clearly behind, but the elimination area (16-20 posts) was decided in the last three minutes.

Stroll got better on his last lap, but it wasn't enough. Doohan, who came from a touch with the wall in the free, did not achieve a competitive time. Bearman suffered a DRS activation problem in his best attempt and was left out. Finally, the eliminated were Stroll, Doohan, Bearman, Hadjar and Bortoleto. Norris closed Q1 with the best time (1: 16,812), followed very closely by Verstappen and Leclerc.

Q2 (15 minutes)

The tension's up. Fifteen pilots were playing the step to Q3. McLaren came out strong again: both Norris and Piastri marked very fast times in their first turns. Verstappen, this time with a clean turn, first set with 1: 16,421 and seemed to have control of the session.

Ferrari responded hard. Leclerc and Hamilton got into the top five, although the monegasque had a small moment on curve 11 that prevented it from improving further. In the middle-down area, the battle was intense. Gasly, Albon, Ocon, Lawson and Hülkenberg played the last posts to enter Q3.

In the last few minutes, Antonelli managed to sneak into top 10 with a long time, while Hülkenberg remained just two tenths away. Tsunoda also happened right in the last attempt. The eliminated in Q2 were Gasly, Albon, Ocon, Lawson and Hülkenberg. Verstappen finished Q2 with the best time, followed by Norris and Piastri.

Q3 (12 minutes)

Ten pilots played pole. The first batch was very balanced. Norris marked 1: 16,201 in his first attempt, Verstappen responded with 1: 16,188 and Piastri remained a few thousand. Ferrari chose a two-round strategy, but Leclerc and Hamilton failed to overcome those of McLaren and Red Bull in that first round.

On the second and final exit, the circuit had won some rubber and times went down. Verstappen first came out and marked 1: 16,044, a very strong time. Piastri got better, but he stayed behind. Norris was the last one out. It completed an almost perfect turn: no errors in the braking areas and with great traction in the fast curves. He crossed the goal with 1: 15,987, taking the pole from Verstappen for 57 million.

Behind, Leclerc closed fourth, Hamilton fifth and Russell sixth. Sainz, Alonso, Tsunoda and Antonelli completed the top 10. Norris celebrated the pole with a shout on the radio, while the Red Bull box saw some frustration: they had been very close, but McLaren had been slightly higher at the decisive moment.

Output Classification - Australia Grand Prix 2026 Albert Park Circuit