Well now, that really wasn’t a quiet opening day of F1 track action for 2026. Adrian Newey’s media conferences these past two days are going to stick in the memory of those present, for sure.
As for tomorrow, it is the same schedule as today. Australia’s final practice session is FP3, which starts at 12:30 p.m. in Melbourne. That is 8:30 p.m. ET on FRIDAY, and 5:30 p.m. PT. It is just about Saturday in the UK though, with a 1:30 a.m. start there.
Then it’s over to what is going to be a remarkable qualifying session, starting at 4 p.m. local time. That is 5 a.m. in the UK — so midnight as Saturday arrives on the east coast, and 9:30 p.m. PT.
With the total field now at 22 cars (hopefully!) it will be six drivers eliminated at the end of the first two sessions, so still a top-10 shootout for pole position — and with 60 seconds longer to achieve it, after Q3 was extended to 13 minutes.