2026 Australian Grand Prix interactive data: lap charts, times and tyres

Ferrari’s incredible starts meant they led almost half the Australian Grand Prix.

Jump to: Lap chart – Gaps chart – Lap times – Tyre strategies

But did the team’s decision not to pit during the first Virtual Safety Car period cost them a chance to win?

George Russell, who was pursuing leader Charles Leclerc closely at this point, took the opportunity to pit while losing less time. Leclerc said Ferrari gambled on the high chance another Virtual Safety Car period would occur later in the race. Sure enough, one did, but unluckily for Ferrari the pit lane entrance was closed when their cars arrived at the last corner so they couldn’t take advantage of it.

Others were more fortunate. Haas and Racing Bulls made exactly the same calls as Ferrari for Oliver Bearman and Arvid Lindblad respectively, who had also started on the medium tyre compound. However when they arrived at the pits during the second VSC period the entrance was open, so they were able to pit.

Ferrari appeared to be concerned about the tyre life implications of a long second stint on hard tyres. Mercedes pulled it off, but Lando Norris was unable to do the same in his McLaren and had to resort to a second pit stop.

The upshot was the reigning champion finished over 50 seconds behind Russell. That’s a huge loss, nearly a second per lap on average, though it is exacerbated by that second pit stop. How much closer he would have been making just one stop is a matter of conjecture, though Norris’s estimate that McLaren were around half a second per lap off the race pace of the leaders seems reasonable.

2026 Australian Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

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2026 Australian Grand Prix race chart

The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:

2026 Australian Grand Prix lap times

All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:

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2026 Australian Grand Prix fastest laps

Each driver’s fastest lap:

2026 Australian Grand Prix tyre strategies

The tyre strategies for each driver:

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2026 Australian Grand Prix pit stop times

How long each driver’s pit stops took:

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