MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 16: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes leads Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 and the rest of the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on March 16, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
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Formula 1 is finally back in action this weekend, with Melbourne playing host to the 2026 season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8 at Albert Park.
Last month’s pre-season testing in Bahrain offered some early clues about what to expect, with Mercedes seemingly holding a bit of an edge over others.
Ferrari looked pretty strong too – having set the fastest time of the fortnight in Sakhir through Charles Leclerc – while Red Bull and defending champions McLaren are also in the mix.
It’s only at Albert Park this weekend however where we will get to see the true pace and performance of each team as F1 enters a new era of regulations with much-changed cars and engines.
Another thing to look forward to this weekend is the debut of American outfit Cadillac as the 11th team on the grid – the first time F1 has had more than 10 teams since fellow American team Haas entered the sport back in 2016.
The General Motors-backed squad banked on experience in their debut season, bringing in veteran drivers Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas after a year out of full-time seats.
German manufacturer Audi will also make its long-awaited debut in the sport after taking over the Swiss-based Sauber.
On the driver’s front, we only have one fresh face in Arvid Lindblad, 18, who is partnering with four-time world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
Albert Park Circuit Stats
- First Grand Prix: 1996
- Circuit Length: 5.278km (3.280 miles)
- Race Distance: 306.124km (190.217 miles)
- Number of Laps: 58
- Number of Turns: 14
- Fastest Lap Time: 1:19.813 (Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2024)
- Most Wins (Driver): Michael Schumacher (4)
- Most Wins (Constructor): Ferrari (10)
- Most Pole Positions (Driver): Lewis Hamilton (8)
- Most Pole Positions (Constructor): Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren (6)
F1 2026 Australian Grand Prix Schedule
The first round of the season in Melbourne kicks off with Free Practice 1 (FP1) on Friday, March 6, at 12:30 p.m. local time (AEDT), followed by Free Practice 2 (FP2) later in the day at 4 p.m.
On Saturday, Mar. 7, drivers will climb into their cars for the final practice run (FP3) at 12:30 p.m. before they fight for grid positions in qualifying at 4 p.m.
The 58-lap race will get underway at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 8.
Australian Grand Prix 2026: Free Practice 1 Start Times
All below start times are on Friday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (AEDT): 12:30 p.m.
- United States and Canada (EST): 8:30 p.m. on Thursday
- United States and Canada (CST): 7:30 p.m. on Thursday
- United States and Canada (PST): 5:30 p.m. on Thursday
- United States and Canada (MST): 6:30 p.m. on Thursday
- United Kingdom (GMT): 1:30 a.m.
- Central European Time (CET): 2:30 a.m.
- Australia (AWST): 9:30 a.m.
- Australia (ACDT): 12 p.m.
- Brasília, Brazil: 10:30 p.m. on Thursday
- Mexico City, Mexico: 7:30 p.m. on Thursday
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 4:30 a.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 5:30 a.m.
- Japan Standard Time (JST): 10:30 a.m.
- Indian Standard Time (IST): 7 a.m.
- China Standard Time (CST): 9:30 a.m.
Australian Grand Prix 2026: Free Practice 2 Start Times
All below start times are on Friday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (AEDT): 4 p.m.
- United States and Canada (EST): 12 a.m.
- United States and Canada (CST): 11 p.m. on Thursday
- United States and Canada (PST): 9 p.m. on Thursday
- United States and Canada (MST): 10 p.m. on Thursday
- United Kingdom (GMT): 5 a.m.
- Central European Time (CET): 6 a.m.
- Australia (AWST): 1 p.m.
- Australia (ACDT): 3:30 p.m.
- Brasília, Brazil: 2 a.m.
- Mexico City, Mexico: 11 p.m. on Thursday
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 8 a.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 9 a.m.
- Japan Standard Time (JST): 2 p.m.
- Indian Standard Time (IST): 10:30 a.m.
- China Standard Time (CST): 1 p.m.
Australian Grand Prix 2026: Free Practice 3 Start Times
All below start times are on Saturday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (AEDT): 12:30 p.m.
- United States and Canada (EST): 8:30 p.m. on Friday
- United States and Canada (CST): 7:30 p.m. on Friday
- United States and Canada (PST): 5:30 p.m. on Friday
- United States and Canada (MST): 6:30 p.m. on Friday
- United Kingdom (GMT): 1:30 a.m.
- Central European Time (CET): 2:30 a.m.
- Australia (AWST): 9:30 a.m.
- Australia (ACDT): 12 p.m.
- Brasília, Brazil: 10:30 p.m. on Friday
- Mexico City, Mexico: 7:30 p.m. on Friday
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 4:30 a.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 5:30 a.m.
- Japan Standard Time (JST): 10:30 a.m.
- Indian Standard Time (IST): 7 a.m.
- China Standard Time (CST): 9:30 a.m.
Australian Grand Prix 2026: Qualifying Start Times
All below start times are on Saturday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (AEDT): 4 p.m.
- United States and Canada (EST): 12 a.m.
- United States and Canada (CST): 11 p.m. on Friday
- United States and Canada (PST): 9 p.m. on Friday
- United States and Canada (MST): 10 p.m. on Friday
- United Kingdom (GMT): 5 a.m.
- Central European Time (CET): 6 a.m.
- Australia (AWST): 1 p.m.
- Australia (ACDT): 3:30 p.m.
- Brasília, Brazil: 2 a.m.
- Mexico City, Mexico: 11 p.m. on Friday
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 8 a.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 9 a.m.
- Japan Standard Time (JST): 2 p.m.
- Indian Standard Time (IST): 10:30 a.m.
- China Standard Time (CST): 1 p.m.
Australian Grand Prix 2026: Race Start Times
All below start times are on Sunday unless stated otherwise.
- Local Time (AEDT): 3 p.m.
- United States and Canada (EST): 11 p.m. on Saturday
- United States and Canada (CST): 10 p.m. on Saturday
- United States and Canada (PST): 8 p.m. on Saturday
- United States and Canada (MST): 9 p.m. on Saturday
- United Kingdom (GMT): 4 a.m.
- Central European Time (CET): 5 a.m.
- Australia (AWST): 12 p.m.
- Australia (ACDT): 2:30 p.m.
- Brasília, Brazil: 1 a.m.
- Mexico City, Mexico: 10 p.m. on Saturday
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: 7 a.m.
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: 8 a.m.
- Japan Standard Time (JST): 1 p.m.
- Indian Standard Time (IST): 9:30 a.m.
- China Standard Time (CST): 12 p.m.
How To Watch 2026 F1 Australian Grand Prix
Fans in the United States can catch the live action of the grand prix on Apple TV, while viewers in the United Kingdom can tune in to Sky Sports for extensive coverage of the weekend, with highlights available for free on Channel 4.
In select regions, F1 TV Pro subscribers can tune in for live coverage on any device, along with the opportunity to catch up on full session replays and highlights afterwards.
Below is the broadcast information for some key territories:
- United States: Apple TV
- United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland: Sky Sports
- Italy: Sky Italia
- Netherlands: Viaplay TV
- Belgium: RTBF, Play Sports
- Australia: Fox Sports, Foxtel, Kayo
- Japan: Fuji TV
- Austria: Servus TV, ORF
- Canada: RDS, RDS 2, TSN, Noovo
- China: Shanghai TV, Guangdong Television Channel, Tencent
- New Zealand: Sky NZ
- Spain: DAZN
- Germany: Sky Deutschland, RTL
- France: Canal+
- Portugal: DAZN
- Mexico: TUDN, Sky Sports, Izzi
- Singapore: beIN SPORTS
- Brazil: TV Globo, sportv
- Middle East and Turkey: beIN SPORTS
- Latin America: ESPN
- Africa: SuperSport
Highlights from each day of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix weekend will be available on F1’s YouTube channel.
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