The first day of practice at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix gave teams their first proper chance to find the competitive order of the new season and where they stand. Teams experimented with different setups, evaluated tyre performance, and gathered crucial long-run data at Albert Park.
While lap times in practice don’t always tell the full story, the sessions still offered some early hints about which teams are in strong form heading into qualifying and which still have a lot of work to do before Race day.
The Strong Performers at the Australian Grand Prix 2026
Across both practice sessions today, some teams clearly stood out in terms of race pace, reliability, and consistency on the tracks. We saw a Ferrari 1-2 finish in the first practice session of the season. Good performance and lap times from both drivers suggest the team has a competitive car and might end up on the podium this weekend.
Mercedes and Red Bull Racing also had quite a solid performance in both sessions, as both Mercedes drivers finished top 3 in Practice 2 and the Red Bull drivers finished in the top 4 in Practice 1. Surprisingly, Arvid Lindblad, the only rookie this season from Racing Bulls, finished 5th in 1st practice.
Oscar Piastri from McLaren finished 2nd Practice in 1st position, setting the fastest lap time today at 1:19.729. While his teammate Lando Norris struggled in 1st practice, not even getting into the top 10, he recovered to finish 7th in 2nd practice.
Teams that Struggled On the First Day of the Australian Grand Prix 2026
While a few teams showed promising pace and performance, many were struggling to find pace across the sessions. The team that performed the worst was Aston Martin, as Fernando Alonso was ruled out of 1st Practice. Their car is about 5-6 seconds slower than the rest, ending up at the lowest in the chart. They are still working on their engine and hydraulic issues and expect to resolve them all before the Japanese Grand Prix.
Cadillac was also struggling and couldn’t keep pace, as it is the newest and least experienced pack on the grid, which has required many improvements during the season. Teams like Audi, Williams, and Haas put in average performances across both sessions, staying in the midfield.
Also Read: What to Expect From the Australian Grand Prix 2026?
Overall Takeaways From FP1 and FP2 of the Australian GP 2026
The opening day offered clues about the competitive order this season, with Ferrari standing out from the rest of the grid for balance and reliability, while Mercedes appeared quietly competitive, staying close to the top while concealing its true performance.
We saw Red Bull and McLaren both putting up some serious lap times, but could not show consistency and balance, unlike Ferrari. Aston Martin, Cadillac, and Alpine all ended at the bottom of the charts and will look to learn from their mistakes overnight after a challenging first day, aiming for better performance in qualifying and the race.
Although the full story cannot be derived from the practice sessions themselves, as they are for experimentation rather than outright speed. The high-performing teams will aim to maintain their consistency, while the struggling teams will seek to resolve their most significant issues to improve performance over the weekend.
