F1 2026 Australia GP: Melbourne schedule, practice, qualifying, and race times

F1 2026 Australia GP: Melbourne schedule, practice, qualifying, and race times. Get the full Italian-time schedule for the 2026 Australian GP.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-25, rear, garage, 2025 F1

F1 2026 Australian GP schedule: Start times for the season opener in Melbourne

Lando Norris won the 2025 World Championship, but many eyes are already on the upcoming season. The first race of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship will take place in Melbourne, Australia, over the weekend of March 6-8, with an early start for Italian fans. The weekend will also mark the debut of the new regulations: no DRS, more hybrid-focused power units, and the ADUO system to ensure balance among engine manufacturers. Below is a guide to the three main sessions in Italian local time.

The opening weekend of the 2026 F1 season

The 2026 Formula 1 season kicks off in Melbourne with the Australian Grand Prix, the first real test of the new technical era. Cars will run without DRS, with power units balanced 50/50 between internal combustion and electric hybrid power. The ADUO system will also come into play to maintain fairness between engine manufacturers. Once again, European fans will face early wake-up calls, but the weekend promises excitement from Friday onward.

Italian-time schedule for practice, qualifying, and race

For the 2026 Australian GP, the Central European Standard Time schedule for the three main sessions is as follows. Free Practice 1 begins at 02:30 on Friday night into Saturday, when we will see the 2026 “agile” cars in action on the Albert Park straights with the new active aerodynamic package. Qualifying is set for 06:00 Saturday morning, when track grip and energy management will be decisive for claiming the first pole position of the year.

The race itself starts at 05:00 Sunday morning Central European Standard Time, with the opening stint immediately testing the hybrid component of the new power units and the teams’ ability to optimize the new electric Override system instead of the old DRS. It’s a must-watch event to see which teams have interpreted the 2026 regulations most effectively.