Mercedes a step ahead of the rest in Qualifying

The bookies favourite delivered in the first qualifying session of the season, delivering a dominant pole position. The brit topped all 3 qualifying rounds and was 0.3 seconds quicker than teammate Kimi Antonelli in Q3. Who was lucky to be able to do a lap in Q1 after a crash in the 3rd Practise sessions hours before. No one was able to come close to Mercedes' pace with 3rd place 8 tenths slower than Russell. The Silver Arrows headed into the season as favourites, but Pre-season testing gave suggestions it may not be as big a gap with Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren all being able to challenge seemingly. That was wiped after this session, Mercedes having the fastest car by some margin. However Russell's time of 1:18.518 was over 3 seconds slower than Norris' Pole time last year. Russell himself was 3 seconds quicker in 2025, highlighting these new cars have a way to go to match the pace of the Ground Effect era.

Hadjar delivers on Red Bull debut

On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Verstappen's new teammate Isack Hadjar has instantly delivered. The pressure of being Red Bull's second driver is on not many have been able to handle in recent years, but in just his second season of F1, Hadjar already looks ready to step up. Following a very impressive debut year at sister team VCARB, including a P3 finish at the Dutch Grand Prix, Hadjar took Yuki Tsunoda's seat as Max Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull. And in his first qualifying session, he not only out-qualified Verstappen after his crash, but will start from P3 for the Grand Prix. A new career best qualifying session in F1 for the Frenchman. 

World Champs behind in Qualifying

McLaren dominated the final 2 years of the Ground Effect era, winning back-to-back Constructor's Championships and last year Lando Norris was crowned Drivers World Champion. However in the first qualifying session of 2026, the Woking team only managed P5 and P6, hometown hero Piastri ahead. They were 8 tenths behind Mercedes though, a clear sign that in the first year of these regulations, McLaren may be fighting for P2 in the Constructor's Championship, not going for 3-in-a-row. Norris struggling more than his teammate, sliding on his first flying lap in Q1. He also suffered reliability issues with his battery affecting his performance. After qualifying Norris said "We've come from the best cars ever made in Formula One and the nicest to drive to possibly the worst. It sucks, but you have to live with it.'