Australian GP takeaways: Mercedes set the benchmark, Ferrari close behind, and Arvid Linblad shines
The opening race weekend of the new F1 season saw George Russell win the season opener, converting pole position into a race-winning Mercedes one-two with Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Despite the pressure from Ferrari on the Silver Arrows, the first race of the season showed the potential of the Prancing Horse and a promising rookie debut.
Here, Sports News Blitz writer Mosaddek Abu discusses the takeaways from the Australian Grand Prix.
Mercedes on top at Albert Park
Mercedes’ pace throughout the race weekend was what people had expected; the Silver Arrows arrived with blistering pace.
In qualifying, they blew the rest of the field away. On race day, George Russell saw the chequered flag with Kimi Antonelli finishing behind in second, proving everyone’s theories about how far ahead they are of the field.
But by no means did it come with ease, as Charles Leclerc and Russell were swapping over the lead over 10 laps, and the pit stops Mercedes made to both drivers during the VSC period helped them out, taking the edge as Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton dropped back after their pit stops.
Ferrari could have brought it close, but made a mistake with their strategy. With the pressure off on Russell and Antonelli, they stayed on the Hard tyres and saw it through to the end.
Smiles for all in the Mercedes garage, as they claimed a one-two finish and kicked off their season in style, with the rest of the paddock, though, looking disgruntled.
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Ferrari had a promising start, but strategy woes on show again
It is the hope that kills a lot of Ferrari fans.
The two Ferraris got an incredible start off the line; Leclerc managed to pass Isack Hadjar and then overtook Russell into Turn 1, taking the lead of the race.
Five lead changes occurred within the first eight laps, with the Prancing Horse looking evenly matched with the Mercedes for much of it, but still aware of a pace disadvantage compared to the Silver Arrows.
An opportunity came knocking for Ferrari on Lap 11, when the first VSC came out for Hadjar’s car as he pulled off to the side of the road.
Many teams, including Mercedes, chose to pit for a cheap stop to prevent any loss of race time.
Ferrari were one of the few that opted against it and carried on as they were. So it was only going to be a matter of time before the two Mercedes, which were on fresher tyres, caught up.
But they would have a second opportunity as Valtteri Bottas had an issue with his car that activated a second VSC.
But given that Bottas pulled off at the pit entry, it meant it had to be closed, and neither Ferrari driver could come in for new tyres until after the second VSC period, where the pit lane re-opened.
Russell held control of his lead; Leclerc dropped into third, with Hamilton in fourth and a marginal gap to the McLaren of Lando Norris.
As all things considered, it isn’t the worst start to a season for Ferrari, especially when you compare it to 2025; it's an improvement.
But the key questions to consider are, could they have split the strategies? Had they pitted at the right time, would they have challenged Mercedes till the end?
Arvid Linblad impresses on F1 Race debut
Arvid Linblad became the third-youngest points scorer in Formula 1 history, as the 18-year-old came home to finish in eighth and outperformed his teammate Liam Lawson.
Linblad was consistent in Saturday qualifying, putting his car ninth on the grid. On Sunday, he maintained that consistency.
At lights out, he went battling with Hamilton and the reigning world champion, Lando Norris, making the jump into fifth for a brief period.
Throughout the race, he was hanging around in the midfield, battling with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen as well, even taking sixth place at one point. However, Verstappen did manage to re-take the position.
Linblad is the only new rookie on the grid this year and is usually, and there tends to come a lot of pressure on them, a grace period, several races for them to get up to speed and get adjusted from making the big jump from Formula 2 to Formula 1.
But Linblad had a strong performance this past weekend and is certainly showing promise for the future.
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Haas and Audi poised to lead the midfield battle
Strong weekends for Haas and Audi, who, as things stand, seem to be the strong favourites to lead the midfield battle.
Both teams had positive qualifying sessions, and their drivers had a quiet race weekend, with no issues. Oliver Bearman managed to finish as high as P7, whilst Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi finished in P10.
They were managing their battles well and driving excellently for a strong points finish.
It seems that these are the two teams that will be ahead in the midfield battle for this early part of the season.
Teams such as Alpine and Williams are behind at this stage.
In the case of the Alpine, they do have a new engine in the Mercedes, but they struggled all weekend as they tried to get a grip on the battery management on both cars. Overall, management just seems to be all over the place.
Williams reported problems before the season got underway in Melbourne, given that they missed the Barcelona shakedown due to delays in pre-season with their 2026 car.
In Melbourne, issues with downforce were identified, along with a need for better aero and more downforce.
Alex Albon best described it as a lonely ninth best, clear of Cadillac and Aston Martin, but far off from everyone else.
But for now, Audi have exceeded expectations, even though Nico Hulkenberg didn’t make the race start.
Still, Bortoleto’s points finish, and their qualifying runs have exceeded the reservations people had about them before testing.
Ollie Bearman has continued his strong performances from 2025 - a P7 finish on the opening weekend of the season, putting Haas as a top midfield candidate, but has also put Esteban Ocon on the back foot, which they may have to look at if he doesn’t improve.
New regulations deliver great racing
Despite the complaints about these new sets of regulations, with a majority of them coming during Saturday qualifying.
Fans had questions about what the race would look like. It turned out to be just like your usual F1 race, but with more overtaking, which was the promise with these new regulations.
To make the action closer and provide competitive racing, we got that at the start of the Grand Prix, with Russell and Leclerc swapping the lead. Verstappen and Norris engaged in a battle over sixth place.
A lot of where you looked on the track, there was plenty of action going on, and the drivers were on their toes.
In total, there were 125 overtakes, compared with 45 in 2025, according to the statistics released by F1.
The overtakes drew criticism, as drivers have to charge and use up battery power when they overtake and the challenges that come with regaining it.
But then you get the back-and-forth action, which we got to see for the opening 10 minutes of the race, and as far as wanting a full, wheel-to-wheel, drivers-combating-each-other-type product, this was an encouraging start.
