The Mercedes pair extracted impressive pace from the W17 and finished comfortably ahead of the rest of the field. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar qualified third, while Charles Leclerc placed fourth for Ferrari.

McLaren locked out the third row, with Australian driver Oscar Piastri fifth and reigning world champion Lando Norris sixth. Lewis Hamilton will start seventh in the second Ferrari. Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad put both Racing Bulls cars inside the top ten, while Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto completed the first ten places.

Further down the order there were several surprises. Max Verstappen will start only 20th after crashing in Q1 due to a technical issue on his Red Bull. Fernando Alonso will line up 17th for Aston Martin, but still ahead of both Cadillac drivers.

Not all cars on the grid set a competitive lap time in qualifying. The biggest uncertainty surrounded Lance Stroll, who failed to record a representative time even during practice. The FIA has nevertheless granted the Aston Martin driver permission to start the race based on previous results, which has already been officially confirmed.

The first race of the 2026 season will begin at 5:00 AM CET (3:00 PM local time).

2026 Australian Grand Prix starting grid