Race Notes | 2026 Australian Grand Prix | 164 | The 2026 Experiment Begins: Mercedes' Hidden Edge and Oscar's Heartbreak

2026 Australian Grand Prix Resnops, Dix Resnops

Number 1.

To no one's surprise, Mercedes looked pretty strong all weekend, especially with their

race pace.

George Russell drove a very composed race and won fairly handedly.

I would not say it was easy, while Kimmy did a great job of recovering from a bad start

to slot into second behind his team leader.

Number 2.

Ferrari looked very strong on pace, but once again their strategy calls or lack thereof were

pretty baffling.

Lewis Hamilton called them out for asking if they should pit at least one of their cars

to cover Mercedes, and he was right to do so.

Number 3.

Speaking of Lewis, he had a very good race and indicated that he thought the race was

fun, a sign that we may soon be seeing his return to the podium.

He for sure was very happy to see the ground effect cars go away.

Number 4.

Isaac Hadjar certainly looked very comfortable in the second Red Bull seat.

One has to wonder if his driving style is similar to Max Verstappen, or if Red Bull has

finally built a car that someone other than Max can drive.

Number 5.

At this point, Red Bull and McLaren are not on the same level as Mercedes and Ferrari,

but you have to think that it won't be too long before they are, given the gap is

fairly close.

Number 6.

I am not sure that I fully understand what happened to Max in qualifying an Oscar on

Warma Blap, but from what I'm reading it sounds like both drivers were caught out

by the sudden deployment of electricity right when they did not need it, and that is what

pitched them off the track.

If that is true, that is just another reason to not like these regulations.

Number 7.

Lastly, the regulations themselves.

Yes, the opening laps were fun to watch as George and Charles swap places, but it was

artificial racing.

The passes happened as a result of one car running out of electrical energy, and the

evacar are bouncing to take the lead, only to lose it again when the leading car lost

its electricity in the second car, repast for the lead.

Watching drivers downshift on the street or slow down for corners early was to me, just

not racing.

But the challenge was for all the drivers, so there is not much for appears to do except

hope, that the rules and energy deployment strategies become more refined, so this sort

of thing becomes something of the past.

Sabrina's race notes.

Number 1.

The new regulations theory meets reality.

This was only one race, and the first race, and I think everyone was learning as they

went.

With strict limits on testing and a compressed window between seasons, this is the moment

when theory collided with reality.

These are extraordinary STEM minds who spent months modeling and theorizing and Australia

it was when the experiment went into application mode.

We saw whose forecasts, gambles, and imaginations were actually validated.

That said, it's only one race.

Each team not only ran its own experiment, it also watched everyone else run theirs.

Now they're going back to analyze all the data, their own, and their competitors.

In that sense, I see this weekend as the opening act of a grand science experiment on a global

scale.

Number 2.

Mercedes.

Dominant, but not yet at full power.

Mercedes had an impressive weekend out of the gate, and I suspect they still have significant

potential they haven't fully unlocked.

My read based on George's comments after the race is that they weren't running at full

power, and that's the edge that comes with being a works team.

You can hold something back and still win.

For their customers, McLaren, Williams, and Alpine, they were closely watching, and I have

no doubt they're already zeroing in on the areas where they can close the gap.

That said, I want to be careful not to treat those three teams as equivalent.

McLaren in my view is the only one position to close the gap rapidly, efficiently, and effectively.

Williams, despite its ongoing renovation, still carries production and weight concerns

that give me pause.

I think Canada may be the first real opportunity to see where they truly stand.

Alpine, with its continued internal dysfunction, faces a harder road, unless they address their

leadership and culture issues.

I suspect it could be summer break before they make meaningful progress.

Number 3.

Ferrari.

Clear Second, with a familiar caveat.

Ferrari has genuine potential.

The question is how much, and whether they can develop it fast enough to chase Mercedes

as the civil arrows continue to unlock their own potential.

What concerns me is the part that hasn't changed, strategy.

These new regulations seem to demand even more precise strategic thinking than before,

and that's historically not Ferrari's strongest suit.

And if there are strategy calls continuing to cost them, the underlying pace won't be enough.

Our customer teams, Hass and Cadillac, give me some confidence that the Ferrari Power

Unit has real potential.

I'll come back to Hass in a moment, but Cadillac is also worth noting.

Sergio Perez completed the race, and that's exactly what a brand new team needs to do in

their maiden Grand Prix.

One data point, but an encouraging one.

Number 4.

Oli Bareiman and Hass, playing the long game.

They have spent much of the race quietly in the midfield.

No reliability issues, no strategy drama.

They were learning in real time, gathering data, managing the new regulations, and calibrating

what was realistically achievable on this weekend.

Their leadership clearly set measured expectations, and the team delivered within them.

That's a team playing the long game and playing it well.

And then there's Oli, P7 and the highest placed midfield driver.

But what stands out to me isn't just the results.

That's what it represents.

This is only his second year in Formula One, and now he's also navigating a complete

regulation change.

That's a significant ask for any driver, and yet he handled it.

He showed pace, composure, and the kind of adaptability you can't manufacture.

None of this should have come as a surprise, really.

We saw something in him from his very first F1 appearance that initial call up told us

that this was a driver who could handle pressure and perform when it counted.

What I'm watching for this season is his consistency.

He has the skill.

We've established that.

But as he continues to mature in this new regulatory environment, the question becomes

whether he and the team can build on this weekend rather than treat it as a ceiling.

I think they can.

Oli is someone we should all be keeping a close eye on this season.

Number 5 Red Bull and Ford Intriguing With Real Questions

Red Bull surprised me in mixed ways.

Let me start with Isaac, because I think his weekend deserves real recognition.

Going into this season, there were genuine concerns about him.

The second-see curse at Red Bull has claimed talented drivers before, and his stunt at

last year's Australian Grand Prix added another layer of scrutiny.

The preseason conversation around him was cautious, and frankly, I shared some of that caution.

But he showed up.

He was strong throughout practice, delivered a career best qualifying lap to go third on

the grid, and in the early laps of the race he was genuinely up there competing.

My honest belief is that if the car hadn't let him down, he could have had a real result

of the front.

That's not small.

That's a driver announcing himself.

The retirement was gutting, and it told us nothing about his limitations, only about

the cars.

And then there's the broader Red Bull picture.

Max's recovery from 20th was remarkable, methodical, composed, finding a way to race a car

that has been deeply difficult in qualifying.

But it was David Coltard's comment during the broadcast that stayed with me.

He noted that the rear's lock solid in Max's qualifying incident, and that even Max's reflexes

couldn't do anything about it.

Think about what that actually means.

If this is happening to Max for a stop in, one of the most gifted drivers this sport

has ever seen.

The problem isn't the driver.

The problem is the car, or the regulations, or both.

That's a serious question for the formula to answer.

What does this look like for everyone else on the grid?

What Red Bull and Ford have built together has genuinely peaked my interest.

The power unit appears to have a foundation worth building on.

Whether they can refine it into something that competes with Mercedes and McLaren comes

down to leadership.

Laurent Meckys has the engineering background and the insight.

But if the broader Red Bull corporate structure doesn't give him the time and space to execute,

it will matter how talented Max is.

And I still have the brain drain concerns.

Vision without the team to execute it is a deficit that's very hard to overcome.

Sister team Racing Bulls had a good showing, which makes me think both teams got enough

right out of the gate to stay relevant in the development race this season.

Number 6.

Power Park, Energy Management, and the circuit problem.

As much as I love Australia and believe it should remain the season opener, I don't think

it was ideal venue to debut these new regulations.

From what I understand, Albert Park is considered one of the most energy poor circuits on the

calendar, and that directly complicated what teams and drivers needed to learn.

The battery recharge dynamics that are so central to these new power units didn't play

well with this track's layout.

That's unfortunate because understanding how recharge actually works in race conditions

is vital development data.

I hope the next circuits provide better opportunities for teams and drivers and for us as observers

to see what this formula is truly capable of.

I'll also note that discussions are apparently underway to potentially adjust the 2026 rules,

possibly as soon as the Japanese Grand Prix, falling further evaluation after China.

I think that shows the right kind of responsiveness.

No one wants a knee jerk reaction, but the willingness to keep the conversation open

and act quickly if needed is encouraging.

Number 7.

Franco Colopinto, Liam Lawson, and a safety concern I can't shake.

I'll be direct.

I was relieved that Franco's near shunt into Liam wasn't worse than it was, but I can't

move past it without saying something because I don't think it should be dismissed.

To be clear about the context, this happened off the starting grid before the race had

even begun, not during racing, not in a battle for position on the grid.

That matters.

I'm someone who does not want to see crashes in this sport.

The potential for injury or worse is always present and weighs on me.

The fact of this came that close in a pre-race moment on the grid is alarming.

Franco's reflexes saved what could have been a very serious situation.

And I think it raises a legitimate question about what's happening under these new regulations,

even before cars are properly racing.

I'll be transparent about where I'm limited here.

I don't have the technical depth to tell you exactly what happened mechanically, but

my instinct, and it's just that, an instinct, is something that, related to the power unit

on Liam's car, may not have functioned the way it should in the moment on the grid.

Why else would a car behave that way before the race had even started?

And in order some self-raised safety concerns as we get about unpredictable behavior under

these new regulations.

I'm not in a position to connect those dots effectively, but I am in a position to say

this needs to be looked at seriously, because, but for Franco's reaction, we might be having

a very different conversation right now.

Number eight, Audi, a solid debut, but I expected more.

A strong debut for Audi, but I'll be honest, I expected more.

Audi isn't really a new team in the traditional sense.

They came in with infrastructure and resources.

I was hoping they'd be able to avoid the technical issues that plagued the weekend.

That said, I was genuinely glad to see Gabriel Bordeaux score points.

He's a maturing as a driver and I find myself hopeful about how he can build around

him.

Nico Hulkenberg's non-start was disappointing, but one data point doesn't tell the full

story.

Number nine, Arvid Lynn Blad, a debut that announced something special.

What a debut.

I don't want to overstate it.

It's just one race, but Arvid handled the weekend with poise.

You simply don't expect from a first-time starter.

He was smooth throughout practice, methodical in how he built pace and confidence, and then

delivered in qualifying and the race.

Scoring points on debut is a genuine achievement in this field, and the wheel-to-wheel battle he

had with Hamilton showed he wasn't intimidated by the moment or the company.

He's someone to watch.

Number ten, Oscar Piaestry, my heart breaks.

There isn't much to analyze here, and that's part of what makes it so hard.

Oscar's spun on the reconnaissance lap before the race even started in front of his home

crowd.

He described it as a combination of bad factors.

He was already on the curb, and when he shifted, he got 100 kilowatt power more than

he expected, or that he had had a weekend, which pitched the car into the wheel spin.

The car reacted as it should within the rules.

This wasn't a mechanical failure in the traditional sense.

It was the new power delivery catching him out at the worst possible moment.

He was understandably gutted.

His acknowledgement that it was even more painful at his home race felt genuine and

understated.

He'll bounce back.

He's mentally strong, but that one stings.

Number eleven, Pierre Gasly, credit where it's due.

Pierre is a talent, and this weekend was another reminder of that.

Alpaine is fortunate to have him, particularly given the ongoing instability within that

organization.

He consistently finds a way to extract results from a situation that would frustrate a lot

of drivers.

He deserves a credit.

Number twelve, Lewis Hamilton, bitter sweet, but a sign of the things to come.

Fourth place is a strong result in the context of where Ferrari came from last season.

But I imagine it feels bitter sweet for Lewis, given how close he was to look like at the

end.

The more interesting question is whether these regulations suit him better.

Ferrari clearly has pace.

If they can get their strategy right and continue to develop the car, I think Lewis could have

a real season.

We'll just have to wait and see.

And a note on the simultaneous chassis and engine change.

One thing that kept coming up this weekend was we don't normally change both the chassis

and the power unit simultaneously inform you of one.

Over and over we heard that this combination creates compounding unknowns.

I think it's worth sitting with that.

It's likely contributed to some of the reliability issues and the uneven performance picture

we saw.

It also means the data from this race is harder to interpret clearly.

Teams are working out two major variables at once, not one.