So you don’t miss a thing in Melbourne, here’s everything you need to know for the first race of the season.<\/p>\n
– Bold predictions for F1 in 2026: Ferrari will end its title drought<\/a> 4:18<\/p>\n What are the new 2026 F1 car regulations?<\/p>\n 2026 is a huge moment for Formula 1 that will see both the chassis and power units updated in the biggest overhaul of regulations in the sport’s history.<\/p>\n Australian Grand Prix schedule and results<\/p>\n All times in GMT<\/p>\n Friday, March 6: Saturday, March 7 Sunday, March 8 How to watch<\/p>\n Sky Sports has exclusive F1 rights again in 2026 in the UK, with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Australia’s sessions are also on Sky Sports Main Event.<\/p>\n For non-subscribers, highlights of the Australian Grand Prix will be on free-to-air television on Channel 4.<\/p>\n In the U.S., subscribers can watch every session on Apple TV, via a new F1 channel on the platform.<\/p>\n Australian GP track: Albert Park<\/p>\n The first race of the season takes place on a temporary street circuit, which uses everyday sections of road that circle Albert Park Lake. It has hosted F1 races since 1995, taking over from Adelaide after a 10-year stint further up the Great Ocean Road.<\/p>\n Regularly serving as the season-opening race, Albert Park undertook a facelift in 2022 in a bid to improve overtaking — with several corners reprofiled and the old slow lakeside chicane removed entirely. A fourth DRS zone was also added, further pushing the average speeds up and making it one of the fastest tracks on the calendar.<\/p>\n As for the vibe, drivers and fans alike enjoy the carnival atmosphere and buzz that arrives each autumn. The Melbourne Walk is a unique part of the experience, with fans lining up along the route where drivers enter and leave the paddock to meet their heroes.<\/p>\n 2014: Nico Rosberg<\/a>, Mercedes First race: 1996 (Adelaide hosted the Australian GP 1985-95)<\/p>\n Laps: 58 laps of 5.2km. Total race distance: 306km.<\/p>\n Lap record: 1:19.813, Leclerc (2024)<\/p>\n Most wins: Michael Schumacher with four (2002-2002, 2004). Of the current grid Hamilton (2008, 2015), Leclerc (2022), Verstappen (2023), Sainz (2024) and Norris (2025) have all won here.<\/p>\n Most poles: Hamilton with eight (2008, 2012, 2014-2019). Of the current grid Leclerc (2022) and Verstappen (2023, 2024) and Norris (2025) have also been on pole here.<\/p>\n The weather<\/p>\n The Australian GP takes place at the start of Melbourne’s autumn, meaning the weather can vary.<\/p>\n The current forecast for F1’s opening weekend is sunny and 26 degrees on Friday, before the temperature drops for the weekend. There’s a risk of showers on Saturday.<\/p>\n What happened last year?<\/p>\n Norris emerged from a wild, wacky and thrilling season-opening race in Melbourne to lay down a title marker to his rivals.<\/p>\n Red Bull’s Verstappen finished second and George Russell<\/a> third for Mercedes, one place ahead of rookie team-mate Kimi Antonelli<\/a>, with Lewis Hamilton starting eighth and ending only 10th following an underwhelming debut for Ferrari.<\/p>\n The weather caused havoc — on lap 44, Norris ran through the gravel ahead of the penultimate corner before Oscar Piastri<\/a> followed his teammate off the road and ended up on the grass.<\/p>\n But while Piastri only recovered to finish ninth, Norris — even with a damaged car — held off Verstappen by 0.8s to claim a nail-biting victory.<\/p>\n Who will win this year?<\/p>\n All the signs are pointing towards Russell, with Mercedes thought to have held plenty of pace back at testing — and even then it was one of the quickest teams.<\/p>\n But don’t rule out a surprise. Ferrari could be right up there on this track with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton eager to start the season in style.<\/p>\n – Formula 1 in 2026: Race calendar<\/a>
– Brundle: Russell ready for title, Hamilton ‘strong’<\/a><\/p>\nplay<\/p>\n
Practice One: 1.30 a.m. – 2.30 a.m.
Practice Two: 5 a.m. – 6 a.m.<\/p>\n
Practice Three: 1.30 a.m. – 2.30 a.m.
Qualifying: 5 a.m. – 6 a.m.<\/p>\n
The Australian Grand Prix: 4 a.m.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/_end_rule.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/aus.png\")
![](\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/i\/venues\/f1\/day\/241.svg\")
Previous winners<\/p>\n
2015: Lewis Hamilton<\/a>, Mercedes
2016: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
2017: Sebastian Vettel<\/a>, Ferrari
2018: Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
2019: Valtteri Bottas<\/a>, Mercedes
2022: Charles Leclerc<\/a>, Ferrari
2023: Max Verstappen<\/a>, Red Bull
2024: Carlos Sainz<\/a>, Ferrari
2025: Lando Norris, McLaren<\/p>\nJoe Portlock\/Getty ImagesOther key stats<\/p>\n
– F1 driver lineups: Meet the stars set to light up 2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb 28, 2026, 10:35 AM ET After all the talk, all the testing, it’s finally time for lift-off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505661,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-505660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505660"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505660\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}