Confidence is flowing through the veins of this young man.
It was a stellar Formula 1 debut and Arvid Lindblad knew it. Very punchy in his comments afterwards.
Lindblad on "pinch-me" moments like racing wheel-to-wheel with his hero Lewis Hamilton, and how he's "not going to roll over" for anyone.
I mean more about tyre deg. Ferrari clearly thought Merc would have to two-stop based on the (very limited) data at hand, but were obviously wrong. Completely agree with your point about the benefits of VSC pitting but, for whatever reason, the data this time suggested it wasn’t worth it to them!
If I’m to offer Ferrari some defence, the strategists are making decisions based on very little data with these new cars.
That said, clearly, not pitting earlier was clearly the wrong call in hindsight. And Ferrari’s reputation doesn’t help them does it!
On-the-flag Aus GP verdict 🏁
Many feared the worst after drivers' complaints at the end of qualifying. 24 hours later, F1's first 2026 race was good fun 🏎
A Mercedes one-two, but without completely blowing everyone away 🏆
It's only one race, but there's plenty to be optimistic about after all! 🔮
I'll say one positive thing for these new cars – they've certainly made race starts exciting without the need for crashes/chaos.
That was a very entertaining first lap!
Yep! Well spotted. I blame that on the early rise. Will fix it, cheers Mike
Lando Norris said after qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix that F1 has gone from the best cars ever to “probably the worst” 🏎️
Is he right? 🤔
Lance Stroll has been given permission to start Sunday's race – assuming his car will have a working engine – after falling foul of the 107% rule.
But Aston had to present evidence of Stroll's competence in driving an F1 car, including listing some of his past accomplishments, to the stewards...
Report and full result from an action-packed first F1 qualifying session of the year ✍
Russell pole as Mercedes dominate. A superb start at Red Bull for Isack Hadjar - but a crash for Max Verstappen. He was one of three to fail to set a time ❌
And well done Arvid Lindblad, in Q3 on debut! 👏
New for 2026 - the Pit Lane Torque podcast!
Full season preview including breakdown of all the new stuff we'll see this year, plus predictions for both the Australian GP and the title race 🔮
And a reminder that Daniel Ricciardo is, in fact, alive and well.
Feat. Bernie Collins and Naomi Schiff 🗣
Aston Martin have gone from knowing they probably wouldn't finish the Australian GP to worrying that they might not even be able to start it.
They brought four battery packs to Melbourne and are already down to two after Friday's running. Any more issues and they may not make it to Sunday's grid.
Source confirms that Danica Patrick “won’t be part of the Sky Sports F1 team going forward”.
Understand she will be focusing on other projects in the motorsport space.
Full story on Sky Sports’ 2026 on-screen team and Danica Patrick’s absence, including what Natalie Pinkham told me about her long recovery from neck surgery ahead of her planned return to work with Sky F1 at the Japanese GP 🗣️
Sky Sports have confirmed their list of presenters and pundits for the new F1 season.
Danica Patrick is not on that list.
Editing a video interview and came across possibly my favourite auto-generated caption error ever.
Good luck to Gabriel Bought A Letter in his second F1 season this year.
Full team-by-team #F1 season previews including constructors’ championship result predictions for all 11 outfits 🔮
Premium story. Comments/abuse/laughter welcome.
Quotes, body language... smell? 👃
First of two big pre-season F1 previews going up this weekend ✍️
This one comes from conversations with David Coulthard and Will Buxton, on how to make sense of what we saw in testing and how to predict who will start the season strong 🔮
Not once in the past 35 years has a Formula 1 team fielding cars designed by Adrian Newey finished lower than sixth in the constructors' championship ❌
But that's the reality facing Aston Martin as they fear the worst for the campaign ahead after a disastrous pre-season 🟢
Premium story 👇
Cadillac have confirmed their first #F1 chassis – the MAC-26 – has been named after 1978 world champion and team ambassador Mario Andretti.
It stands for Mario Andretti Cadillac 2026.
'A quick fix', that should read!'
Is it the weekend yet?
Honda's head of four-wheel racing, Ikuo Takeishi, has confirmed that "abnormal vibrations" led to Aston Martin's pre-season testing time being cut short 🟢
And he also suggested there's unlikely to be a big fix as the problems could "drag on", the aim being to be "competitive for Suzuka" 🇯🇵
Today’s office 📍
Given the options, I am now choosing to use ‘Ahoj’ as a greeting until further notice.
Oliver Bearman interview ✍️
🗣️ “I want to win races and championships, and that’s the team I want to do it with.”
His short term focus is on his sophomore season with Haas, but the end goal is very clear for Britain’s next F1 star 🔴
Of course, I meant F2* champion!
2023 F1 champion Theo Pourchaire is back in an F1 team's setup, having joined Mercedes as a development driver.
Pourchaire was previously a Sauber junior but failed to land a place on the F1 grid, and raced a handful of times in IndyCar during the 2024 season.
Developing story 👇
Interview with Alessandro Benetton, former chairman of the F1 team his family owned which beat established motorsport institutions to win titles with Michael Schumacher.
"To win a world championship, starting from not being taken seriously, it really is maximum satisfaction."
Premium story ✍
Pre-season testing is over. Charles Leclerc will grab headlines with the fastest lap of the Bahrain test overall (nearly a second quicker than anyone else on Friday!) but does it actually mean anything?
Plus, the body language at Mercedes and crisis at Aston Martin are eye-catching 👀
Analysis 👇
That’s it for Aston Martin. Their car is back in the garage and despite there still being 2hr 20mins left of the final day of F1 pre-season testing, a team spokesperson has confirmed that there will be no more running of the AMR26.
Stefano Domenicali in firefighter mode 🔥
Was on a web call with the F1 CEO yesterday, which he used to insist fans will still find “an incredible spectacle” in racing this season, despite some of the highest-profile drivers on the grid complaining publicly about their new cars 🗣️
