2026 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix: Full schedule and session timetable

With pre-season testing now complete — featuring three sessions for the eleven teams, including one behind closed doors in Barcelona and two in Bahrain — Formula 1 is ready to officially kick off the 2026 season and usher in a new regulatory era.

The Sakhir tests showed that the new cars are already highly reliable, unlike in previous regulation changes, but they also raised some questions, particularly regarding energy deployment and race starts — areas that will be especially interesting to monitor once the action moves to Melbourne.

As was the case last year, the Albert Park circuit will once again host the season opener, after Bahrain had held that honour in previous years. The schedule will hardly favour European fans, who will have to wake up in the middle of the night to follow the on-track action.

The four-time world champion suggested that Melbourne will provide the first real benchmark to properly assess the true potential of Mercedes and the W17.

Speaking to GPblog and other media outlets in Bahrain, he expressed confidence that Mercedes still have significant performance in hand, hinting that the full strength of their power unit has yet to be revealed and will become clear once the season reaches Melbourne.