F1 2026 cars: How the new rules played out as drivers raced at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix | F1 News

A new era in Formula 1 began with 120 overtakes in the early stages of the Australian Grand Prix, including a heated battle between George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

Russell won the season opener in Melbourne from Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, with Leclerc third and Lewis Hamilton fourth, but there was much discussion about the new style of racing.

New powertrain regulations have led to a greater emphasis on the use of electric power, which has led to varying straight-line speeds going into corners, as demonstrated by Russell and Leclerc’s seven lead changes over nine laps.

Russell was able to pass Leclerc several times, but the Ferrari driver used overtaking mode to pass him again on the following lap. This mode is activated to allow a higher speed tolerance for laps when the driver is one second behind.

“Honestly, in the first 10 laps of the race, I haven’t seen anything like this in 10 years,” said Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur.

“We have to keep this in mind but we don’t know what the weekend will bring. “This is a very good start for the sport, a very good start for the show.

“Dear fans, you will enjoy the opening stage a lot, but let’s continue like this. If we have to react at one stage after a few races, we will react, but doing it too quickly would be a mistake.”

But some drivers, including world champion Lando Norris and Haas’ Esteban Ocon, were critical of Sunday’s race.

“The current regulations are that it is very difficult to get out of a close combat with another car,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

“That’s why the performance is converging, and I’m excited if it continues like this. Once I start to relax, I can see the speed.

“But both elements are part of a good race. And the pace of the race at the end was very encouraging on our part, but at the start there was nothing between Ferrari and Mercedes.”

Verstappen, Norris among drivers criticizing regulations

Max Verstappen has expressed concerns about the new rules since they were first announced for 2022, saying pre-season testing felt like “Formula E on steroids”.

Verstappen refers to the “lift and coast” or “superclipping” element, which allows the driver to stop accelerating towards the end of a straight to recharge the battery and use more electrical energy coming out of the corner.

He moved up from 20th to sixth at the Australian Grand Prix after suffering a freak crash in qualifying. “I love racing, but I can’t take too much in,” he said.

“I think they are willing to listen to the FIA ​​and F1, but I just hope there is action because I am not the only one saying that. A lot of people are saying the same thing.”

“As drivers, as fans, we just want the best for the sport. Just because we’re critical doesn’t mean we’re critical. The reason we’re critical is because we want Formula 1 to be, you know, a proper Formula 1 on steroids, which of course wasn’t the case today.”

During pre-season testing, Norris countered Verstappen’s comments and said: “If you want to retire, you can retire.” However, the McLaren driver appears to have changed his stance since the season opened.

“It’s a shame, it’s very artificial,” he said.

“Depending on what the powertrain decides, and sometimes randomly, to do, you could end up being overtaken by five cars or sometimes not be able to do anything.”

Hamilton ‘loves’ new race, Russell calls for patience

Hamilton, who openly disliked the previous ground-effect car F1 had from 2022 to 2025, had perfect perspective on the battle for the lead and was the most positive driver going into Sunday’s race.

“Personally, I liked it. The race was really fun to drive. The car was really fun to drive. There was a good back-and-forth battle with the cars in front,” he said.

“It was amazing. It might have looked different because there were 20 cars in front, but I thought it was amazing from my perspective.”

Russell and Leclerc both called it “different”, with the Mercedes driver noting that Albert Park is one of the more difficult tracks in terms of energy deployment.

“The interesting thing about these adjustments is that every track we go to, it won’t always be like this,” Russell said.

“We’re going to Shanghai next, which has big, long straights, so most drivers will be using their energy on those straights – we don’t have to split it into four straights like we do here in Melbourne.

“Everyone is very quick to criticize. You should give it a try. We are 22 drivers. When we have the best car, the least tire degradation and we are happiest, everyone moans about what a piece of shit racing is.

“Now the drivers are not completely happy and everyone said it was an amazing race, so you can’t have everything and we have to give it a chance and see after a few more races.”

Perhaps Wolff summed it up best when he said fans’ opinions should be taken into account and, as Russell said, whether the Australian Grand Prix “made for some pretty good drama on TV” despite the drivers’ complaints.

Formula 1 heads to Shanghai for the first sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports NOW – No Commitment, Cancel Anytime