Only Williams’ Carlos Sainz in ninth made up more places in the grand prix than Lawson, who qualified 14th on Saturday. Having become the youngest driver to take pole position for a grand prix 24 hours earlier, Kimi Antonelli turned starting first into his maiden victory, continuing 2026’s trend of Mercedes winning every race. Teammate George Russell finished second to complete Mercedes’ second one-two in as many grands prix, while Lewis Hamilton came home third for his maiden grand prix podium for Ferrari. Eight points across the weekend takes Lawson to ninth in the drivers championship, level with Verstappen, while Racing Bulls are sixth in the constructors after Lindblad’s eighth in Melbourne. Formula One now takes a week off, before returning for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka at the end of this month, as the final race before a five-week break after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia grands prix were cancelled due to the Iran war.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 15, 2026 10:10 UTC