F1 Qualifying Results: Australian Grand Prix times and positions - Verstappen crashes out, Russell dominates

George Russell took an absolutely dominant pole position for the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, confirming Mercedes' status as the early class of the F1 field in 2026.

The Brit beat team-mate Kimi Antonelli into second place by three tenths of a second, with Isack Hadjar starting ahead of Charles Leclerc on the second row. Hadjar, the nearest non-Mercedes car, was more than three quarters of a second off pole position pace.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris will start the race sixth on the grid, sharing the third row with McLaren team-mate and home town hero Oscar Piastri.

Q3 was red flagged for a long period after Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes was sent out with two cooling fans still attached to his car, one skittering off harmlessly into the gravel but one landing on the track where it was smashed to pieces by Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen was the headline casualty of the first two portions of qualifying, after a crash just seconds into his first flying lap.

The Red Bull star's rear axle locked as he tried to slow down coming down into Turn 1, making him no more than a passenger as his car slid across the gravel and into the barriers to end his session and bring out the red flag.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton avoids major crash as McLaren star tops day one of 2026 season

F1 Qualifying Results: Australian Grand Prix 2026

Changes to F1 Qualifying in 2026

There are a couple of changes to the way qualifying works this year, not quite as sweeping as the new technical regulations.

Firstly we now have 22 cars on the grid, so instead of 5 cars exiting after Q1 and Q2, we will have 6 being eliminated. That still leaves 10 for the pole shootout in Q3.

The other notable change is in the timings - Q3 now gets an extra minute and lasts for 13 rather than 12.

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