Oscar Piastri will start the home race from fifth on the grid as the Mercedes team converted its dominant pre-season performance into a dominant qualifying performance at Albert Park on Saturday.
George Russell claimed the top spot on the grid with a 1:18.518, finishing 0.293 seconds ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli, while Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar claimed the third spot.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc edged out Oscar Piastri for the fourth spot, while McLaren teammate and defending champion Lando Norris started from the sixth spot.
This was a complete turnaround from Friday, when Oscar Piastri topped the second practice ahead of the two Mercedes drivers, sparking hopes that the McLaren team could potentially dominate the Melbourne circuit.
However, the Mercedes team found another gear when it mattered the most. “It really came alive this afternoon” Russell said after the qualifying, in which the team locked out the front row for the first race of the new season.
Although Piastri’s fifth place finish is a respectable start, it falls short of what the Melbourne crowd had been hoping for given his early weekend speed.
He is still comfortably positioned in the third row, the distance to Russell highlighted the amount of work McLaren still needs to do before Sunday’s race in order to compete on an even playing field with Mercedes.
Antonelli’s second place was one of the big talking points of the afternoon.
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The 19 year old had crashed heavily in the final practice session, but Mercedes managed to repair the car in time for qualifying, and he repaid the faith by taking up a front row spot.
Max Verstappen’s qualifying was ruined when his rear axle locked up, sending his Red Bull into the barriers at Turn 1, meaning he was unable to set a time and ending up in 20th place.
It was another day that has felt like the balance of power has shifted at the beginning of the 2026 season.
For Oscar Piastri, the task now is to turn his unspectacular qualifying performance into a charge on Sunday in front of his home fans.
