On Friday at Albert Park, home of this week's Australian Grand Prix, we got our first real look at what F1 2026 is really all about. It didn't look like that on the test track in Bahrain in the heat of February, but under the pressure of a race weekend, on a road circuit drivers were pushing and teams were making real decisions. After two practice sessions, this is what we know.
Ferrari's influence continues
The Ferrari came out swinging. Charles Leclerc topped FP1, his red car fast and clean around a track that rewards precision over raw power. Lewis Hamilton finished right behind him in second place. This is the Ferrari 1-2 the Scuderia faithful have been dreaming about for three years.
Hamilton seemed like a man reborn – spontaneous, aggressive, clearly at home in the SF-26 in a way that was difficult to imagine before Melbourne. Even his initial dominance was not a mere glimpse. When FP2 rolled around, both Ferraris were still in the mix, with Hamilton fifth, Leclerc sixth. The speed is real.
Mercedes and George Russell look good despite setbacks
Mercedes had a bit of a messy day but don't panic. His FP1 was relatively quiet, with the Silver Arrows hiding rather than pushing forward. Then FP2 happened. Kimi Antonelli – yes, the 19-year-old second-year driver – became the first driver to break the 1:19 second barrier and finished second overall. George Russell finished third. alert? Russell spun off and went through the gravel at Turn 3, and has two stewards checks hanging over him after some pit lane contact with Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad. Clean weekend, this ain't. But the pace is absolutely there.
Max Verstappen is, well, Max Verstappen
Then there's Verstappen. He stopped the car in the pit lane before the start of FP2. He lost a large portion of the session's time. Then, with 10 minutes remaining, he hit the wall at turn 10 at high speed, went through the gravel, and damaged his floorboards. He still finished sixth. That's Max. There are real question marks over the reliability of the car, as Honda reportedly only has two working batteries left, and is still looking for a way to get into the conversation. Don't ignore it because RB-22 is still complicated. Complex has never stopped him before.
Saturday's final practice and qualifying will tell us much more. But it's hard to argue with Friday's headlines: Ferrari look like a real threat, Mercedes look like the team they can beat if they get things together, and Verstappen remains exactly the kind of problem that doesn't go away just because you want it to.
