Boy, were those Formula 1 drivers mad after qualifying. Some of the sport’s biggest names and personalities pretty much eviscerated these new cars after the first Saturday of the 2026 season, with four-time champion Max Verstappen and last year’s title winner Lando Norris particularly vocal about how much they hate the brave new world of F1 racing.

The general consensus among drivers is that these new cars, powered by engines that rely much more on electrical power than ever before, are no fun to drive. In qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix the drawbacks were plain to see, especially from the on-board shots as we were exposed to the painful sound of cars slowing down – ‘super clipping’, as they’re calling it – long before they reach a corner at the end of a longer straight.

Lap times were also down – George Russell‘s pole position time was three-and-a-half seconds slower than Lando Norris‘ field-leading lap from the 2025 Melbourne event. But that was to be expected, given last year’s cars had been developed for more than three years in an unchanged ruleset. In the present day, teams still have a lot to learn about their new racing machines.

But what we did learn on Sunday is that these cars have the potential to provide a brilliantly entertaining season. While appreciating and acknowledging that these ‘conclusions’ are based on a sample of one single Grand Prix, few who woke before dawn in the UK and Europe or stayed up late in the Americas to tune in to the events Down Under were left disappointed.

The start in particular was thrilling. As was expected after testing, we saw a very varied set of launches off the line with the Ferraris especially getting away well. That thrust Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton into contention for victory for a time, and also set Kimi Antonelli back as he lost several places at the start.

The cat-and-mouse tactics seemingly required to make overtakes stick by managing battery levels and using ‘Overtake Mode’, which has replaced DRS for this year, led to lots of position changes in the opening stint of the race. Russell vs Leclerc for the lead was a particularly absorbing heavyweight slugfest for a time, until strategies split as Mercedes made an early stop and Ferrari chose to stay out. Boo!

The Scuderia gambled on Mercedes needing to switch to a two-stop strategy because of their early visit to the pit lane, but the W17s were kinder to their tyres than Ferrari had hoped and, in the end, they had to settle for just one car on the podium. But that itself presented a fun late battle, as Leclerc successfully defended against his team-mate to deny Hamilton a first Grand Prix podium in red.

What F1 will have been pleased to see was that, even though Mercedes did secure maximum points with a one-two finish, they weren’t too far clear of the chasing pack. Russell got his title bid off to the perfect start with victory, 15 seconds clear of Leclerc in third. We’ve seen much bigger winning margins at some races in recent years. Russell sang: “I like these cars, I like these engines,” as he crossed the line. Well, he would!

Five British drivers were in the top eight at the end of the race, including Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad who enjoyed a stellar F1 debut. There was heartbreak in the main Red Bull team, though, as Isack Hadjar pulled over early on with a mechanical failure after impressively qualifying third for his first race as Verstappen’s team-mate.

All in, it was a thorougly absorbing 90 minutes of Grand Prix racing. Melbourne usually delivers a fun event and, as mentioned, it is a sample of just one race. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves but, based on the limited available evidence, it seems this much-maligned new era of F1 has potential after all.