F1 news: Max Verstappen wants action as George Russell left stunned by new footage
Formula 1 turns its attention from Melbourne to Shanghai as George Russell, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and co prepare for the Chinese Grand Prix
The first race weekend of the Formula 1 calendar has been and gone as George Russell tasted victory at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Toto Wolff's team got off to an ideal start as Kimi Antonelli picked up second place and Mercedes confirmed their advantage under the new race regulations.
It was a sour home race for McLaren's Oscar Piastri, while reigning world champion Lando Norris still isn't a fan of the latest generation of cars, having finished fifth. Ferrari established themselves as the second-best constructor by claiming third and fourth.
Much of the talk heading into the race was of Aston Martin's issues. That is not likely to change anytime soon as Fernando Alonso did not finish the race, as expected, and Lance Stroll was 15 laps behind race-winner Russell.
Attention next turns to Shanghai's Chinese Grand Prix, which takes place in less than a week. Join us for all of the latest news and updates below.
Formula 1 fans can watch every practice, qualifier and race live with Sky's Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an introductory deal that saves £336.
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KEY EVENTS
FIA review
The FIA are set to review F1's energy management situation after the Chinese Grand Prix, according to Nikolas Tombazis.
The Australian Grand Prix delivered a reported 120 overtakes, which is a significant increase from the previous year. But a large number of these only arose as drivers cycled through phases of energy.
“We didn’t believe it was realistic to make changes for energy management here,” Tombazis told the media ahead of the race in Australia.
“We had a meeting with the teams about 10 days ago, after the Bahrain testing, to review the matter.
“The team’s unanimous position was that we should stick to the current arrangements for the first few races and to review the matter when we have a bit more data.
“Our intention is after China to be reviewing the energy management situation.
“We have a few aces up our sleeves on that, which we didn’t want to introduce ahead of the first race as a knee-jerk reaction, and which we will review with the teams after China.”
'Fans are priortiy'
Toto Wolff has played down drivers' concerns over the impact of new regulations on racing, and suggested the sport must continue to satisfy fans as its priority.
"I didn't hear any one of the drivers speaking particularly good of the last cars and saying it was the best car.
“We tend to be very nostalgic and look at past events. Clearly, we're all stakeholders of the sport. We need to have a great spectacle, the best cars in the world and the best drivers. Being exciting for the fans. That's why we just need to look at the product.
“One perspective is the view of the drivers, which is an important perspective. But... Stefano would say that the single matrix that matters to him is whether the fans like it - that is what we need to look at.
“If it needs to be tweaked, if we need to adjust, I think we have the flexibility in Formula 1 to always take those decisions.”
Hadjar hits out
Isack Hadjar has put some blame on his team for the Australian Grand Prix preparations and believes he could have taken the lead on Sunday if he had a little more battery available to him to start the race.
“The start was amazing. I mean, I started the race with no battery for the launch. I had a very good launch, I was taking the lead easy. At least that’s a good point of the day, we had a very good start.
“And once I thought, ‘oh, I’m going to take the lead’, no more power, so that was great. You can imagine, for like a couple of laps, I’m spending time to just recover. The engine sounded terrible, so I knew I was not going to finish the race. It’s a shame; we’d be in the mix with, I think, Lewis.”
Asked if the battery issue was a technical problem, Hadjar rejected the suggestion.
“No, it’s not a technical issue. It’s just we need to do better to avoid this from happening. We didn’t manage to simulate it in the whole six days of testing, in free practice as well. Honestly, it’s just new scenarios. A race scenario is different. It’s a good experience at least.
"It’s hard to fight someone who’s going 30km/h faster than you in the straight. That was my only highlight of the day.”
Ferrari strategy explained
Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur has outlined the thinking behind the team's decision not to pit under the Virtual Safety Car at the Australian Grand Prix.
They were caught out by the life left remaining in the tires.
We targeted the optimum for us, and the optimum was to extend. Now we are also a bit surprised. I think Mercedes also, with the life of the tyres, I think we could have done 300 laps today.
“But it is like it is. I think they still had, during the race, a delta of performance with us. The issue is the VSC, the call, and just the pure pace.”
Hadjar praise
Laurent Mekies praised Red Bull debutant Isack Hadjar after his first race for his new team at the Australian Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old had to retire in Melbourne but showed some promise before his power unit failed.
“He did a fantastic weekend,” said team principal Mekies. “Coming here, fairly limited mileage in testing, with a bit of lack of luck there, and he came here from the very first lap, FP1, Friday, on the right pace.
“We were able to split the testing programme between the cars, get double the amount of information. He went to qualifying with everything, that means a first time qualifying with these rules, absolutely nailed it. Put the car in P3, which is probably as high as it could have been on Saturday.
“So, hats off, really and today, he was on his way to have a mega start before he realised we didn't have the battery charge and I think the pace would have been good enough to fight with the McLaren.”
Verstappen unimpressed
Max Verstappen had a furious radio message for Arvind Lindblad this weekend. While exiting the pit lane behind the F1 rooking, the Dutchman believed he was being unnecessarily impeded.
"F***ing brake-checking!" Verstappen complained over the radio.
Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, said: "Repeat that, Max."
"Got f***ing brake-checked the whole pit lane," came the response.
"Copy that, thank you," said Lambiase.
Hamilton defies critics
Amid all of the criticism of Formula 1's new regulations, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton managed to enjoy himself in Melbourne.
Finishing fourth, after qualifying seventh, the British racer had fun adjusting to the new demands.
"I personally loved it. I thought the race was really fun to drive. I thought the car was really fun to drive.
"I watched the cars ahead, there was some good battling back and forth. So far, so good.”
Alonso warning
Fernando Alonso says there will be "no difference" in China, after a painful opening weekend in Australia for Aston Martin.
Alonso's race turned into a test session as one pit stop took more than 15 minutes and the former world champion is expecting similar difficulties next time out.
"No different, no different,” he told crash.net. “For sure, we have the same car, the same power unit next weekend. So I expect another tough weekend. But meanwhile, we cannot give up.
“We need to keep on trying different solutions, especially on the chassis, and try to understand and get better in the package in general. I think we are not optimised in anything yet, because the lack of mileage, so China will be another good opportunity.”
Talks planned
Formula 1 chiefs plan talks with drivers in a bid to temper the anger amerging over the sport's new engine rules. They hope to quell any chance of a rebellion after coming under criticism from figures such as Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Press Assocation reports F1 will hold talks with drivers before this week’s second race in China.
Verstappen plans
Max Verstappen has announced plans to contest the Nurburgring 24 in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. The racer will join an effort ran by Winward Racing.
Verstappen said:
"The Nurburgring Nordschleife is a special place.
“There’s no other track like it. The 24h Nurburgring is a race that’s been on my bucket list for a long time, so I’m really thrilled we can make it happen now.
“Last year, I was able to get my DMSB Permit Nordschleife and participate in NLS9, that we won.
“That preparation is very valuable, as we have learned a lot that we can take into our programme this year with NLS2 and the 24-hour race.
“We’ve got a strong line-up with Dani, Jules and Lucas and great support from Red Bull and Mercedes-AMG Motorsport."
McLaren frustrated by Mercedes
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has revealed his discontent at a lack of engine "information" being provided by Mercedes.
There is a degree of frustration due to the apparent gap between the supplier and the customer in performance.
Stella said:
"The discussion with HPP (Mercedes High Performance Powertrains) about having more information has been going on for weeks because, even in testing, we were pretty much going on track, run the car, look at the data, 'oh, that's what we have. Good, now we react to what we have'.
"That's not how you work in Formula 1. In Formula 1, what happens on track, you simulate. You know what is happening, you know what you are programming, you know how the car is going to behave.
"So, you also have your plans as to how you evolve it that you have figured out before because you know what you are expecting from the car.
"So, I have to say, since we are a customer team [of Mercedes], this is the first time that we feel we are on the back foot even when it comes to the ability to predict how the car will behave and the ability to anticipate how we can improve the car."
Piastri vow
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is taking the positives from a disappointing result in Melbourne.
"We clearly identified some things we need to change and do a better job at,
"But I think through practice and qualifying, I felt pretty comfortable — as comfortable as you can do in these cars.
"And yeah, it felt like I was building myself into it nicely; that element is not too dissimilar to 12 months ago, so I'll just try and take the learnings and come back next week."
Russell stunned
George Russell almost jumped out of his seat as he, Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli were left stunned watching race highlights in the cooldown room following the race. The trio discussed their F1 fates in Melbourne before being distracted by a scary moment they'd previously not seen.
Alpine driver Franco Colapinto was shown moving quickly from the line to be met by Liam Lawson's vehicle, and only his quick reflexes ensured the pair weren't involved in a collision, with the former doing well to avoid a wall.
Listen in to the first cooldown room of the new F1 season! \ud83d\udde3\ufe0f \ud83d\udc40 pic.twitter.com/aWw0D6MDx2
\u2014 Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 8, 2026
Verstappen demands rules are looked at
Max Verstappen still hopes the FIA can come up with solutions during this season after a chaotic first race. The Dutchman came from last place into sixth but put it down to his car's advantage over rivals.
The multiple-time world champion has called for the sport's chiefs to re-evaluate the rules this season rather than waiting, after seeing people hit back at his opinion.
Asked about the race, he said:
"Chaos....yeah, honestly, I don't really have the right words for it.
"For me, I passed a lot of cars because we were two seconds a lap faster. But, I don't really know what word to use."
Asked whether F1 should be worried about the racing, he added:
"I think what they should worry about are the rules.
"They ask questions, and I give my opinion of what I would like to see and what I think is better for the sport, because I do care about it. I do love racing, and I want it to be better than this.
"So let's see what we can do. I hope that even during this year, we can come up with some different solutions so it becomes more enjoyable for everyone."
Good morning
Race one is complete, and the season's narratives are just getting underway. Thanks for joining us as we keep you up to date on all of the fallout from Melbourne and with all of the news heading into the Chinese Grand Prix in China.
