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Max powers to P6 but Isack forced to retire
Max Verstappen battled through from 20th on the grid to take a solid sixth place at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix but there was disappointment for Isack Hadjar who was forced to retire from the race after just 10 laps. Ahead of Max the race at Albert Park, the race was won by Mercedes’ George Russell with team-mate Kimi Antonelli second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third place.
Results
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Reactions From The Team
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Max gives us his thoughts after finishing 6th in Australia
"It was a decent comeback from P20 and we will work as a Team to close the gap further"
Quotes From The Team
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Race Report
Soundtracked by the high-revving blare of F1’s revised power units, the new era of F1 got off to a dramatic start as Charles rocketed off the line from fourth place on the grid to claim the lead ahead of polesitter George.
Australian Grand Prix 2026
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Behind them, a tussle broke out for third place, but as Kimi got away poorly due to a battery issue, it was Isack who won out, with the French driver making a good start to hold on to his starting place as the field went into Turn 1. However, our new recruit was reporting struggles with energy management and he quickly lost out to VCARB’s rookie Arvid Lindblad and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton who sailed past both as the Red Bull cars battled.
Australian Grand Prix 2026
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Further back Max, starting from 20th, quickly began to carve his way through the pack and on lap five he powered past Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto to claim 11th place. Two laps later he muscled past Haas’ Ollie Bearman to rise to a points-scoring place.
At the front, across the opening laps, the lead repeatedly changed hands as George and Charles went toe to toe but on lap 12 the shape of the race changed – and it was Isack’s misfortune to be the gamechanger.
Isack had been complaining about issues in the car since the start and on lap 10 he was forced to retire from the opening race.
The stoppage resulted in a Virtual Safety Car and in the top spots both Mercedes driver and McLaren’s Lando Norris opted to pit.
Max, however, chose to stay out and when the caution ended, he continued to forge a path forward. And when Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas brought on another VSC by grinding to a halt at the edge of the pit entry, Max took advantage of the cheap stop, diving into the pits behind Arvid.
Australian Grand Prix 2026
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The Dutchman moved to Medium tyres in a 3.3s stop and after emerging right behind the VCARB rookie, the four-time champion swept past to claim sixth place.
At the front, the Ferrari pair, who had eschewed stops under the VSCs, kept to their target strategy and after they made regulation stops, George flew past to reclaim the lead ahead of Kimi, with Charles slipping to third ahead of Lewis as the race reached the halfway mark.
Behind them was defending champion Lando Norris, running ageing Hard tyres and being chased by Max. On lap 34 the Dutchman was just 0.8s behind the Briton and with grip fading, the McLaren driver bailed out of the fight. He dived into the pit and Max made it into the top five.
Australian Grand Prix 2026
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His stay there wouldn’t last long. Max was complaining about the state of his Medium tyres and on lap 42 he made his second stop, moving back to Hard tyres.
That put him behind Lando once more, on tyres that were eight laps fresher, and the 2025 title rivals quickly began to battle again. On lap 46 Max hauled his RB22 to just under one second behind the McLaren but though he had access to Overtake Mode, Lando was harvesting well and using his Boost carefully to hold on to fifth place to the end.
At the front, George was in full control and after 58 laps the Mercedes driver crossed the line to take his sixth career win ahead of team-mate Kimi. They were followed by the Ferrari’s of Charles and Lewis, and then Lando and Max.
Behind Max, Ollie Bearman took seventh place for Haas and in eighth place, Lindblad took four well-earned points on his debut for VCARB. Gabriel Bortoleto handed Audi two points on their debut with P9, and the final point went to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Australian Grand Prix 2026
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