00:00Oscar Piastri the home favorite has hit the wall, he said he's okay but
00:05extraordinarily we've already lost the McLaren from this race
00:08over the curb, off the curb, into the wall, out of the Grand Prix, absolutely extraordinary
00:16Formula One in 2026 begins when the five red lights go out, the new season is underway,
00:26they crawl off the line and Hadjar's gonna have an unbelievable chance to go from third to first but
00:31he didn't get a good launch and Charles Leclerc's to the inside, he's done it, what a start for the
00:36Ferraris, Charles Leclerc goes through, he climbs three positions and takes the lead from fourth
00:41on the grid, Charles Leclerc, George Russell then Isaac Hadjar are your top three, there was so much
00:46wheel spin for those on the front row, Kimi Antonelli is already down and what an absolutely superb
00:52getaway for Arvid Lindblad who's into fourth, Charles Leclerc then George Russell, Hadjar,
00:57Lindblad, Hamilton your top five. They teased it in winter testing, they delivered it here in Bahrain
01:02and he has bolted, he's absolutely bolted away at the front here and this now is not on the script
01:08for Mercedes. Leclerc's initial getaway wasn't actually as outstanding as we expected, Hamilton
01:14was almost coming through for the lead as well. Early battling, you've got Pierre Gasly putting the
01:18pressure on Esteban Ocon, these two started together, it's been a really horror all around
01:23the outside, that is very very close there, between the two Red Bull stable drivers, Hamilton's got a
01:29good launch off that corner, about to go wheel to wheel, are we about to go three wide? Lindblad finds
01:34himself getting through, Lindblad to third, Hamilton to fourth and Hadjar down to fifth. Unbelievable
01:40Arvid Lindblad. Hamilton then gets up to third, frenetic opening lap in Albert Park.
01:47Advantage Ferrari on that start. Can he come back immediately? Yes he does, Hadjar gets back
01:52immediately, so where you deploy the power is everything, it's pass and repass.
01:58That Mercedes is a rocket ship Charles Leclerc will try and hang on to it, he's a former winner around
02:04here in the past. Now let's go bottom left with Max Verstappen, he's passing Valtteri Bottas in the
02:08Cadillac and he takes the position, out front, George Russell sweeps by and the Mercedes man reclaims
02:15the lead on lap two. There's a big closing speed coming, if you see the flashing lights of the car
02:21ahead, means it's slowing down and Charles Leclerc is going to try and go all the way around the outside
02:27to retake the lead of the Australian Grand Prix. In the background, Kimi Antonelli is up to fourth, George
02:37Russell is up to the lead, not quite, he's putting all of the pressure on, Charles Leclerc prepared to be
02:44brave, he doesn't care how quick the Mercedes is, he's going to cling on to the lead with his fingertips.
02:51How does the car perform in race trim, in dirty air, with tailwinds as we've got into turn one,
02:57on this day in history? So there'll be a process of finding, here's the extra power from Russell.
03:02He inches ahead, side by side, how much can Leclerc fight it? Not enough to hang on to it,
03:08George Russell retakes the lead again.
03:12Keep an eye on that rear wing, that red light flashing tells us that he's no longer
03:17in full deployment, and that allows Charles Leclerc to take the dirty line all the way around,
03:21so it is this wonderful game of cat and mouse. Ferrari back to P1.
03:27And I tell you what, Charles Leclerc is playing his cards wonderfully right now.
03:31New overtaking spot. Russell locks up, doesn't need that, does make the corner, hangs on to it,
03:37and immediately back. Pass, repass, and now a three-way battle for the lead. Charles Leclerc takes it back
03:43from Russell, and he's looking to the inside. Russell can't get by for long enough. He can take track
03:49position, but he can't hold it. And now joining the battle, the seven-time champion of the world,
03:55Lewis Hamilton. Problem for Isaac Hadjar, dropping down the order. The man who had his best every day
04:02in Formula One qualifying yesterday, is out of the Grand Prix on lap 11.
04:07The man has broken everything. On board with Isaac Hadjar. He's lost drive at that point. It's gone
04:17into like a hydraulic failure, thrown it into neutral. George Russell in, Kimi Antonelli in,
04:24they took the opportunity. Ferrari stayed out, they're going to get their cars into a little bit
04:29of clear air here. At least one of us should have come in. Our fourth retirement of the Australian
04:36Grand Prix is Fernando Alonso. Old friends reunited. Lawson, Perez, trying to get by in the
04:45racing bulls, trying to go around the outside of the Cadillac, and no driver in Formula One is not
04:49going to allow you to do that. Well, look, I was questioning whether Checo would be a bit rusty,
04:54but he's not showing any lack of fate. Bottas comes to a stop. We were watching
05:00Checo with the other Cadillac. Lawson did get by into turn 11, and then we cut to Valtteri Bottas.
05:07The 10-time Grand Prix winner is out of the Grand Prix. This flat-out section closing in.
05:14Still has access to overtake mode if he needs it. Can he go around the outside? Great defense on the
05:20restart for Arvid Lindblad, but it's about to end. Sweeping by, taking the position. Max Verstappen
05:25back up to P6. Down to turn three, this is a few laps ago. Pierre Gasly laid on the brakes,
05:32trying to get past his old foe Esteban Ocon. Bang, through. We will find out in the remaining laps
05:40whether this is a strategic error or it works brilliantly for him, but armed with the information
05:45we have now. This is very peculiar. On board with Lewis Hamilton, this flat-out section.
05:53George Russell looking to the inside and not being given away by. Until now,
05:58George Russell has had to wait his turn. George Russell back into the lead of the Australian Grand Prix.
06:06So into the pits comes Lewis Hamilton. It's Russell, Antonelli, Hamilton and Leclerc. But Leclerc will go
06:13through and he claims his spot on the podium. Well, we've seen a bit of wheel banging with at least
06:20four cars in the field. A barge board has come off. It is indeed. And there is the barge board
06:27of the
06:28Cadillac being thrown from the car. And here's Gabriel Bortoleto in his second season of Formula One. He's
06:36able to get past Esteban Ocon. These three have been battling lap after lap after lap.
06:42Further up the order. This is the battle between Oliver Behrman and Arvid Lindblad and Oliver Behrman.
06:47Oh, that was a late chop. Behrman saw it coming. Behrman takes the place. Well,
06:52Lindblad is definitely not shy of, well, being, let's say, aggressively defensive. He's coming back.
06:59He uses the boost to get by. But you can't use too much of your battery power without paying for
07:04it
07:04badly on the flat out run from six to turn nine. And it wasn't enough. And through goes Oliver Behrman.
07:12And the swapping continues. Ocon was at the head of this battle. Then it was Gasly. Now it is Gabriel
07:18Bortoleto. The pre-season favorite begins with a win. George Russell wins the Australian Grand Prix.
07:28It's a Mercedes 1-2 in a season opener for the first time since 2019. But they do seem to
07:34have
07:34a battle on their hands with Ferrari, who have led laps today. And they are separated across the line.
07:41Charles Leclerc completing the podium. Lewis Hamilton only six-tenths of a second behind.
07:45Charles Leclerc fought lap after lap. But when the German team hit the front,
07:53they stayed there. A brilliantly executed race once they had clear air
07:58for the championship favorite team and driver.
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