Australian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton handed major boost after shock Australian Grand Prix crash

Hamilton's new Ferrari was flying after the first lights out of the 2026 championship

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 8 March 2026 05:18 Updated: 05:46

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton took advantage of a significant boost after lights out at the first race of the 2026 championship following a shock crash that no one saw coming early on during the Australian Grand Prix.

It was the Mercedes driver duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli who managed to lock out the front row in Melbourne on Sunday, with new Red Bull star Isack Hadjar and Charles Leclerc lining up behind them ahead of the other Ferrari, driven by Lewis Hamilton who started slightly lower down the order.

After qualifying in P5 on Saturday, Oscar Piastri failed to make it to the start line after suffering a heartbreaking crash before the formation lap had even taken place, crashing out of his home race on his way out of Turn 4 after catching the kerb.

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But Piastri’s absence on the grid cleared the pack in front of Hamilton, allowing him to take advantage of the Scuderia's speedy form during the brand new starting procedure, something that also helped his team-mate Leclerc.

Both Ferraris got off to a dream start, with Leclerc going from fourth to first and Hamilton catapulting up to P3 after Antonelli and Russell both suffered with battery issues.

F1 2026 Australian GP gets off to chaotic start

Following Piastri's shockingly early crash, Nico Hulkenberg was also ruled out of the first race of the championship early on after Audi had previously reported they had lost communication with his car on the way to the grid.

Shortly after, a virtual safety car was called on lap 12 after Hadjar suffered a technical failure which saw smoke billowing out of his RB22, once again ruling him out of the Australian GP following his devastating formation lap crash last year.

Ferrari opted not to take advantage of the VSC, failing to pit either of their drivers as their rivals were called in to the pit lane, much to the frustration of Hamilton.

The new chassis and power unit regulations coming into the sport this year have caused plenty of havoc already, with Aston Martin flagging behind with serious problems on their brand new Honda power unit.

Their first DNF appeared to come 15 laps into the 58-lap race when two-time champion Fernando Alonso was called in to retire the car, but his troubled AMR26 was revived only a matter of laps later when he rejoined the race.

But both Alonso and his team-mate Lance Stroll are unlikely to finish the race given that team principal Adrian Newey told media earlier in the weekend that both drivers had voiced concerns they could suffer permanent nerve damage if they attempted to complete the full-length grand prix due to vibrations coming from their problematic Honda PU.

Come lap 19 and the chaos showed no signs of stopping, with Valtteri Bottas stopping on track with a technical issue, leaving the fate of Cadillac's debut as the 11th F1 team purely in the hands of Sergio Perez.

Australian Grand Prix 2026 regulations Melbourne