Russell leads all-Mercedes front row as Verstappen crashes out in Q1

Mercedes have locked out the front row of the grid for the first race of the 2026 F1 season.

George Russell claimed pole position for the ninth time in his career. But his team mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who took second place with his final lap, is under investigation for two separate incidents in a scrappy session.

Several drivers dropped out early on with technical trouble in their new cars. But the most high-profile victim was Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull snapped sideways when he hit the brakes on his first lap and spun into a barrier.

Q1

As qualifying began, Mercedes and Williams were hard at work on the cars of Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz Jnr. Antonelli crashed late in final practice, while Sainz suffered a technical problem, and both were at risk of not being ready in time for Q1.

For the first time since 2016, 22 cars were due to participate in qualifying, which meant half a dozen would be eliminated in each of the first two rounds.

Most drivers opted for soft tyres for the first round. Gabriel Bortoleto briefly headed the times in his Audi with a 1’20.495, but final practice pace-setter George Russell took that off him with a 1’19.940.

The following drivers were unable to match that. Charles Leclerc got closest to begin with despite opting to run the medium compound tyres on his Ferrari, ending up 0.386 seconds shy. Oscar Piastri put his McLaren third, four tenths of a second shy, followed by Arvid Lindblad’s Racing Bulls and the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton.

The Red Bull drivers waited before completing their first flying laps. Isack Hadjar ended up six tenths of a second shy of Russell, a time Lando Norris almost matched exactly.

But Max Verstappen’s first attempt at a flying lap came to an immediate end. His RB22 snapped into a spin as soon as he hit the brakes at turn one, and he bounced over the gravel trap into a barrier.

“The car just fucking locked on its rear axle,” he fumed, adding sarcastically: “Fantastic.”

Although the damage to the Red Bull appeared light, Verstappen was unable to get his car back onto the track and the session was red-flagged. That gave huge relief to Mercedes, and Antonelli joined the track when Q1 restarted with seven minutes remaining.

He duly delivered the sixth-quickest time, ensuring his progress to the second round. Antonelli thanked his mechanics as he drove his W17 back into the pits at the end of the session.

Hamilton, still on his medium tyres, briefly set the fastest time. However that was beaten by Piastri and Russell in quick succession, though the Mercedes driver remained half a second shy of his best time from final practice.

Unlike Antonelli, Sainz never made it out of the pits. Nor was Aston Martin able to rebuild Lance Stroll’s car after his engine problems in final practice. Fernando Alonso clung to a Q2 place until he was eliminated by Franco Colapinto.

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Q1 result

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Q2

Russell saw off the competition with ease in Q2, lowering the best time to a 1’18.934, then sitting back while the others failed to beat it.

Hamilton was hamstrung in his efforts to do so, the Ferrari driver abandoning his first run on softs and reporting a power unit problem. He nonetheless managed to reach Q3, lapping just under a second off Russell.

Leclerc put the other Ferrari in second place, being the only driver to get within half a second of Russell’s time. Antonelli took third.

Hadjar put the only remaining Red Bull in fifth between the McLaren drivers. Piastri led the way again at the reigning constructors’ champions, while Norris was barely quicker than the struggling Hamilton.

The Racing Bulls pair and Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10, but all three were almost involved in a collision as they returned to the pits. Bortoleto slowed with a problem and Lawson hung back behind him. But as Lindblad rounded the blind entrance he came upon them and had to swerve to avoid his team mate’s car.

Bortoleto beat his Audi team mate Nico Hulkenberg to the final place in Q3, the pair followed by the Haas drivers. Alexander Albon went off at turn two on his last lap and dropped out along with the Alpine drivers.

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Q2 result

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Q3

Unfortunately for Bortoleto, the problem which struck at the end of Q2 prevented him from taking any further part in qualifying. That left just nine drivers contesting Q3.

Piastri was the only driver to complete a flying lap when the session was abruptly red-flagged. Norris had hit a sidepod cooler which had fallen out of Antonelli’s car at the exit of turn two. Antonelli, who was already under investigation for a pit lane infringement, now faced a second inquiry by the stewards.

Norris’s front wing took a significant hit from the cooler, but McLaren were unwilling to change it. The 2026-specification front wings are harder to replace due to the new driver-adjustable elements. Rather than fit a new wing, McLaren elected to patch up the underside of Norris’s left-hand end-plate with tape.

Russell regained his position at the top of the times when the session resumed, though his 1’19.084 was slightly slower than his best from Q2. But Antonelli abandoned his first lap after locking up at turn three and running wide.

Despite his damage, Norris got closest to matching the Mercedes, though he was over half a second shy. He pipped Hadjar by just two hundredths of a second.

Piastri fell to fifth place behind Leclerc after the first runs. Neither Ferrari driver was able to get within a second of Russell initially, Hamilton taking sixth place.

Antonelli tidied up his final effort and beat his team mate’s time with a 1’18.811. Russell was not far behind however and reclaimed the top spot with a 1’18.518.

Piastri temporarily took third place but was shuffled down the order by Leclerc and then Hadjar. Norris was unable to beat his team mate’s time, meaning the McLarens will occupy the third row of the grid.

Hamilton stayed seventh while Lawson pipped Lindblad to eighth place with his final lap.

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Q3 result

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