By Alex Powell in Melbourne
Liam Lawson’s hopes of taking anything from Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix were dashed by battery woes, as the Kiwi crossed the line 13th in Melbourne.
With new regulations in place, all 11 teams took part in a season-opener like no other, seeing multiple overtakes and changes of lead at the front of the field in a great race for the neutrals.
Before the weekend, Lawson admitted to the Herald his “anxiety” over the new cars – which see a 50-50 split between electric and combustion engine – and how battery management would play a part.
Those fears turned out to be well-placed. As the lights went out at Albert Park Street Circuit, Lawson fell to 20th, and spent the rest of the race fighting to salvage anything.
And while he undoubtedly gathered valuable data for his Racing Bulls team, failing to make the most of qualifying eighth a day earlier will irk the Kiwi.
Making matters worse, Lawson’s rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad shone on his Formula One debut, going from ninth to eighth to net four points in his maiden grand prix.
At the front of the field, Mercedes’ George Russell converted pole position into his sixth career victory, but not without a cat-and-mouse battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, as both made use of the new batteries to swap positions multiple times throughout the opening laps.
Leclerc would finish third after Ferrari gambled and lost with pit strategy, as Russell’s Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli completed the podium in second.
World champion Lando Norris could only see his McLaren to fifth after what he admitted had been a difficult weekend. Former world champion Max Verstappen, meanwhile, took sixth after starting 20th following his qualifying crash 24 hours earlier.
Naturally, Mercedes have taken charge of the constructors championship, while Ferrari are second.
As a sign of what might be to come this season, though, four cars failed to finish with reliability issues, with mastering new engines paramount for teams over the coming year.
For all the excitement at adding two new cars to the grid with Cadillac’s arrival, only 20 drivers were able to start. Hometown hero Oscar Piastri of McLaren crashed on his warm-up lap, while Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg didn’t make the start line.
But as the lights went out, Lawson fell from seventh to 20th, as the Kiwi complained about no power off the start line. The Racing Bulls driver was able to make up three places on the opening laps, getting around Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin and both Cadillacs.
With more than 50 laps still remaining, there was plenty of time for Lawson to make up ground, with no guarantees over cars’ reliability under the new regulations. That showed when Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin dropped back and Lawson climbed to 16th on lap eight.
Colapinto was handed a penalty for a start infringement, which he served on lap 10 as Lawson climbed another place, up to 15th. After being promoted to Red Bull ahead of Lawson to end 2025, Isack Hadjar’s weekend ended on lap 12 when his engine caught fire, as the Kiwi pitted behind a virtual safety car (VSC).
As the green flag waved, Lawson’s pace advantage told on Sergio Perez’s Cadillac by making use of overtake mode, as the Mexican was investigated for forcing his old Red Bull stablemate off the track.
One lap later, another VSC was called for, as Valtteri Bottas became the fifth driver to not complete the race. After the halfway point, Lawson began to close the gap to Colapinto down to less than three seconds, but needed misfortune in front of him if he was to gain anything from the season-opener.
Lap 38 saw Lawson use overtake mode again to get around Colapinto, and move up to 13th, albeit still more than 13 seconds back from Alex Albon’s Williams ahead of him, a gap he’d manage to close significantly before running out of time.
With a set of fresh soft tyres still up his sleeve from qualifying on Saturday, a safety car late on would have given Lawson a chance at a late smash-and-grab. However, that chance never came, as the Kiwi missed the points to begin 2026.
The Formula One season continues next Sunday, with the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai making it two races in as many weeks.
Did not finish: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac), Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
Did not start: Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.