Race Rundown 1-3: Formula 1 2026 Season

Race Rundown: Races 1-3: Australia, China, Japan

Well, it is that time again. My emotions are now determined by 22 drivers on a track, and my plans revolve around the races.  F1 is officially back for the 2026 season, and while there are some changes, one thing that hasn’t changed is that I still have to remind myself that I am not actually driving the cars but am in fact just sitting at home, cozy with blankets and snacks.

Race 1: Australia

The start of this season brought a few new changes: 11 teams, 22 drivers, new engines and regulations to name a few.  The weekend started out with a surprising quali result, Max Verstappen crashed out in Q1, and the top three from quali ended up being George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, and Isack Hadjar.

Race Day arrived and tragedy struck before the race even started for Oscar Piastri who crashed into the barriers during the recon laps, 30 minutes before his home race started.  

Hulkenberg retired prior to the formation lap, the mechanics rolled his car off the grid into the garage.

Grand Prix:

During the race Charles Leclerc took first at the race start and George Russell dropped to second and Lewis Hamilton took third place.  The only rookie this year, Arvid Lindblad, overtook Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli fell to seventh place.  George Russell reclaimed the race lead in Lap 2.  Meanwhile Max Verstappen had been moving through the backfield, going from 20th to 15th.  Charles Leclerc overtook George Russell again and Lewis and Charles began battling with George Russell.  Kimi Antonelli then overtook Lando.  

By Lap 7 Max Verstappen had moved up to 11.

Then a back and forth between George and Charles - George reclaimed the lead, then Leclerc took the lead AGAIN.  

Then Colapinto received a penalty, but I’m still not sure exactly what the penalty was as it was reported to be a “Colapinto-and-Go” penalty.  He then pitted Lap 10.

We had a Ferrari vs. Mercedes battle with Leclerc vs. Russell and Hamilton vs. Antonelli.  Then Isack Hadjar DNF’d, due to an engine problem.  Due to this retirement from Hadjar there was a VSC lap 12.  Lando decided to pit, with a 2.9 second pit stop.  Then Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, and Liam Lawson pitted.  Verstappen moved up to 6th during the VSC which ended Lap 14. 

Lewis Hamilton moved up to second and Fernando Alonso retired.  Valtteri Bottas ended up in the grass which resulted in another VSC on Lap 19.  During this second VSC Ollie Bearman, Max Verstappen, Arvid Lindblad, and Gabriel Bortoleto pitted.  Lando moved up to 5th.  Checo pitted and the pit lane entry closed.  The VSC ended lap 20.  

After the VSC, Hamilton was first and George Russell was second but during the restart George overtook Lewis.  

Fernando Alonso then UN-retired??  Then DNF’d again eventually.  There was a THIRD VSC that started and ended during Lap 34.

Lando pitted again for 2.5 seconds.  After the pitstops, Lando overtook Bearman, then Lindblad.  Then Lindblad and Bearman battled.  

Lance Stroll then retired.

Lando then overtook Max and they battled for over 15 laps.  Lando held Max off the entire time even though Max was on fresher tires.  

The podium was George Russell P1, Kimi Antonelli P2, and Charles Leclerc P3.

Race 2: China - Sprint Weekend

I’ll admit, I do not know all of the details about the new regulations and changes that were made to the cars, but what I do know is how these changes are impacting the drivers and their performances.  Lando Norris, the current world champion, ended the first weekend P5 and Max Verstappen, who has four world championships is currently battling through the back and in the mid-field.  While McLaren and Redbull are very clearly struggling with their cars as former champion teams, Ferrari and especially Mercedes are soaring through this season and are excelling.  

Sprint Race:

The top 3 starting positions for the Sprint Race were George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris.  Kimi had a poor start and Lewis Hamilton took second.  There was contact between Kimi and Isack.  Charles Leclerc overtook Lando Norris.  Then Lewis Hamilton overtook George Russell for first, George then reclaimed the position, and then Lewis Hamilton overtook George Russell AGAIN.

Then Arvid Lindblad spun out and Kimi Antonelli started retaking positions.  

This sprint race was a HUGE battle between Lewis and George - Russell overtook Hamilton for first, then Hamilton got it back again.  Eventually Lewis got it back again.

Kimi overtook Oscar, then Oscar overtook Kimi, then Kimi overtook Oscar AGAIN.  Kimi Antonelli then got a 10 second penalty for causing a collision.

Kimi then overtook Lando.  Leclerc took second and then there was a battle between the Ferrari cars.

Kimi overtook Lewis Hamilton.  Lap 12 Lindblad retired and then Lap 13 Bottas retired.  Hulkenberg then stopped on track and there was a yellow flag.  Verstappen then locked up and Kimi overtook Charles.  There was a Safety Car for Lap 13, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, and Redbull all double stacked.  Lando took third after pitting during the safety car.  Antonelli came out in front of Oscar after his [Kimi’s] penalty.  The safety car ended lap 16 and Russell, Leclerc and Norris took top three after the safety car restart. 

We then go a little throwback with a Pierre and Esteban battle for 10th place.

Piastri then overtook Antonelli, Bearman, and Lawson.    

Sergio Perez got a 5 second penalty for a safety car infringement.

Kimi overtook Liam Lawson, then Piastri had to give Kimi the place back, and Lewis Hamilton overtook Lando.  

The podium for the Sprint Race was George Russell in P1, Charles Leclerc in P2, and Lewis Hamilton in P3.

Grand Prix:

The second Grand Prix of this season had a very interesting starting line-up.  First-off, Kimi Antonelli was on pole, and he was and is the youngest ever pole-sitter.  Lando was supposed to start from the pitlane along with teammate Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto, but that possible pitlane start turned to tragedy for some fans.  Oscar Piastri was rolled off the grid before the formation lap and we all believed that the four drivers would start from the pitlane.  The start of the race came and went and all of them were a DNS - my heart broke for Lando and especially for Oscar as he didn’t get to start either of the Grand Prix this season.

Once the lights went out, Hamilton took the lead and Kimi went to second.  Lawson and then Arvid went off the track.

Max Verstappen lost SIX positions on the start.

Hadjar spun but was still in it, he then pitted.  

Kimi then retook the lead, George Russell then overtook both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Then the rookie on Racing Bulls, Arvid Lindblad, overtook Max Verstappen.

Cadillac teammates Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas collided. 

While all this chaos was taking place the Mercedes cars were gaining a pretty big gap.  Mercedes is looking to be the team to beat this year, their cars and drivers are in another league.

Lance Stroll then comes to a stop off the track and DNFs.  Due to his car needing to be retrieved they deployed a safety car Lap 10.  During this safety car, the following drivers pitted:

Russell, Antonelli, Hamilton, Charles, Pierre, Ollie, Valtteri, Isack, and Checo.  The safety car ended lap 13.  After the safety car, Franco Colapinto was in second from staying out and he held off Lewis Hamilton for a while.  But eventually Hamilton took second.

George Russell is a diva again, back with attitude filled radio messages, “no f****** grip”.

Leclerc then also overtook Colapinto and Bearman overtook Ocon.

Then we had a Ferrari battle - Leclerc overtook Hamilton, then Hamilton overtook Leclerc, and finally Leclerc regained the spot again. 

George Russell overtook Hamilton.  Then Lindblad spun and recovered.

George eventually overtook Charles Leclerc.

Franco Colapinto pitted and as he rejoined the race there was contact between him and Esteban Ocon.  This put debris on the track and Esteban Ocon got a 10 second penalty.

Fernando Alonso retired on Lap 35. 

Hamilton then had some power issues, but overtook Leclerc on the hairpin due to Leclerc locking up.

This whole race the Mercedes and Ferrari cars were in another world.  Lewis and Charles then had their own little battle, which Charles apparently enjoyed per his radio message.  Leclerc overtook Hamilton, and then Hamilton retook third.

Pierre Gasly then got past Max Verstappen and Max retired his car shortly after on Lap 46.

On the very last lap of the race, Kimi briefly went off the track on the hairpin but due to the pace of the Mercedes, he was able to keep his lead.  I should probably mention that I hate hairpins on tracks, they give me anxiety.  Shortly after Kimi went on to cross the checkered flag in P1.  This was Kimi’s first race win (I had to hold back from typing this in all caps but I am screaming in my head).  The podium was as follows, Kimi Antonelli P1, George Russell P2, Lewis Hamilton P3.  Not only was this Kimi’s first win but it was Lewis’ first podium with Ferrari.  

While I was so excited for Kimi, I was also upset as both Lando and Oscar were DNS.  Their problems were later revealed to both be battery problems.  While they were both battery issues both drivers had different issues.  Which I think is a statement to how these regulations and changes are impacting the sport.  After this race Lando had to change his battery AGAIN, so at the start of the Japanese GP, he was already on his third battery of the season, which is the maximum allotment per driver for the season.

After the Chinese Grand Prix we had some breaking news, both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix were canceled.  Along with the race cancellations, the Audi Team Principal, Wheatley, left Audi effective immediately.

Race 3: Japan

The starting three on the grid were as follows - Kimi Antonelli, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri.

Grand Prix:

It’s lights out and away we go for round three of the season.  With the lights out Piastri took the lead , Leclerc moved up to second and Lando moved up to third.  Meanwhile Kimi, who was on pole, dropped down to sixth and his teammate George Russell who started in second dropped to fourth.  

Then we got straight into the overtakes.  Kimi overtook Lewis, Verstappen overtook Hadjar, and Russell overtook Lando and then Leclerc.  Lando then had to defend against the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli.  George then overtook Oscar, then Oscar retook the lead.  

Both of the Mercedes were battling a Mclaren - GR vs OP, KA vs LN.  Kimi did wind up overtaking Lando and then Charles, but Charles re-overtook Kimi for third.

The following pit stops I believe are important.  Lando pitted Lap 17 for 2.5 seconds, he went in fifth and came out ninth.  Then Charles pitted Lap 18, he went in third and came out seventh, with Lando chasing him.  Oscar pitted on Lap 19, he went in first and came out sixth.  

Piastri then overtook Verstappen.  

Russell then pitted on lap 21, he went in first and came out fifth, which we soon learnt was not the best move.  Almost right after George came out of the pits, Ollie Bearman crashed into the barriers and there was a safety car deployed on LAP 22.  As per George Russell’s radio “UNBELIEVABLE”.  During this safety car Antonelli, Hamilton, Gasly, Verstappen, Lawson, Sainz, Bortoleto and Hulkenberg all pitted.  While it was eventually revealed after the race that Ollie Bearman was ok, when he got out of the car, he was limping and needed help walking from the marshals.  

The safety car ended at the end of lap 27, and at the restart, the order was Kimi, Oscar, Lewis, George, Charles, and Lando.

Lance Stroll the DNFd on Lap 31.

Then George Russell got overtaken by Charles Leclerc, which led to a mini battle between the Ferraris.  Hamilton got overtaken by Leclerc and then by Russell.  Norris overtook Hamilton.  Hamilton left the track and gained an advantage, but there was no further investigation.  Then Hamilton regained his position.  Russell overtook Leclerc then Leclerc retook the position.  Lando then overtook Hamilton and then Hamilton overtook Norris again, but this battle ended with Lando overtaking Hamilton for fifth.

Kimi won the race, Oscar took P2, and Charles took P3.  The end of this race also had Gasly beating Verstappen for P7.  With Kimi’s win in this race he became the new championship leader, and the youngest ever championship leader.

One thing that I have noticed this season is that there is a lot more yo-yoing with the overtakes.  I am not the only one who has noticed this either.  The commentators during the Japanese GP also mentioned this.  This yo-yoing seems to be an effect of some of the new battery regulations. 

As there are no races until Miami, in May, and due to all the trouble with the cars and Ollie Bearman’s crash, there seems to be some talk of changing or maybe altering some regulations.  I can confidently say I would be for regulation changes as there have been so many problems already this season and we have only had three races.  I look forward to Miami and seeing what actually happens.