Kimi Antonelli shunt leaves Mercedes with race against time

During the third free practice for the Australian Grand Prix, Antonelli had a huge accident in the first sector. With twelve minutes remaining on the clock, the Mercedes driver lost the rear of his car completely while on a fast lap, causing extensive damage to his Mercedes.

It now leaves the German team with a huge rebuilding task before qualifying gets underway at 05:00 GMT.

While Antonelli missed out on the final few minutes of the session, teammate George Russell showed what he and Mercedes are capable of in 2026 with a stunning lap that put him P1.

Behind him were the two Ferrari's of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, setting up a mouth-watering qualifying battle to open up the 2026 season.