As F1’s new era begins, Hamilton could equal his own record for most poles at a single venue and Verstappen will be hoping to continue his podium streak. Here are the milestones and the records which could be broken at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix!
The 2026 Australian Grand Prix Milestones
The 2026 Australian Grand Prix will be the 1,150th race in World Championship history.
This will be the 40th time that Formula 1 has raced in Australia. F1 first visited the country in 1985. It will be the 29th Grand Prix held at Albert Park. In total, this will be the 89th Australian Grand Prix since the event was first held in 1928.
This will be the 24th time that Albert Park hosts the season-opening event of the year, extending its record as the circuit which has hosted the first round of the season on the most occasions.
This will be the second Formula 1 race to take place on March 8. The only other race held on this date was the 1998 Australian Grand Prix.
Two new teams make their debut at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix. Audi make their long awaited maiden appearance, taking over the Sauber team. Meanwhile, Cadillac become the first brand new team to compete in Formula 1 since Haas at the Australian Grand Prix ten years ago.
With Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris all on the grid, this will be the first race in which four drivers who’ve previously been crowned World Champion will compete since the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon makes his 181st start at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix. Unless he takes pole position, he’ll equal Romain Grosjean as the driver who has made the most starts without taking pole. Only Sergio Perez started more races before taking pole for the first time, doing so on his 216th start.
Lindblad Makes His F1 Debut
Arvid Lindblad makes his Formula 1 debut at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix with Racing Bulls. He will become the first driver to start a race in car number 41 since Geoff Lees at the 1980 Dutch Grand Prix. It’s the first time the number will be used in any session since Isack Hadjar made a Free Practice 1 appearance in car number 41 with AlphaTauri at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Lindblad becomes the fourth youngest driver to start a Grand Prix – only Max Verstappen, Lance Stroll and Kimi Antonelli were younger at the time of their debut.
With Lindbald joining the grid, there are five British drivers taking part in the 2026 Australian Grand Prix. It makes it the first race to feature as many as five British drivers on the grid since the 2002 Belgian Grand Prix.
If Arvid Lindblad qualifies in the top ten, he will be the eighth driver to reach Q3 on debut since the knockout system was introduced at the start of 2006. He would be the first driver to do so since Lando Norris at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix.
A win or podium finish for Arvid Lindblad at either of the first two races of the season would make him the youngest winner or podium finisher in Formula 1 history.
Norris’ First Race as Reigning Champion
A victory for Lando Norris at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix would make him only the seventh driver to win their first race after securing the title for the first time. Alberto Ascari, Graham Hill, Niki Lauda, Alan Jones, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel are the only other drivers to have done so. He would also become the ninth driver to win their first race of their first season as reigning World Champion. In addition to the six drivers listed above, Emerson Fittipaldi and Fernando Alonso are the only other drivers who’ve achieved that feat.
Victory for Norris would see him equal David Coulthard for sixth on the list of most Grand Prix wins with McLaren.
A victory for McLaren would make 2026 the 40th season in which they’ve taken a win.
If Oscar Piastri wins, he will join a list of eight other drivers who have won as many as ten Grands Prix without ever winning the title.
A win for a Mercedes-powered car at any race in 2026 will make this the 30th season in which a car with a Mercedes engine has taken a Grand Prix victory.
Verstappen’s 10-Race Podium Streak
Max Verstappen is currently on a streak of ten consecutive podium finishes. Another top three finish at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix would make this the seventh time that a driver has recorded a streak of as many as ten successive top three finishes.
A podium finish for Max Verstappen would make him the eighth driver to record podium results in as many as 11 consecutive seasons.
Max Verstappen has won 71 races to date with Red Bull. Another victory would see him equal Michael Schumacher for the second-most victories with a single constructor. Schumacher won 72 races with Ferrari during his career. The record for most wins with a team is 84, for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.
A victory for Max Verstappen in 2026 would make him only the fourth driver – after Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to have won in as many as 11 different Formula 1 seasons.
If Max Verstappen wins a race in 2026, it would be the 11th consecutive season in which he has won a Grand Prix. Verstappen would be only the third driver to win in as many as 11 successive years. Michael Schumacher reached the milestone in 2002, while Lewis Hamilton achieved the feat in 2017. Both drivers went on to win in 15 consecutive years.
A pole position in 2026 for Max Verstappen would make him the fifth driver – after Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to record pole positions in as many as eight consecutive Formula 1 seasons.
If Max Verstappen leads from start to finish, this would be the 19th Grand Prix which he has led from lights to flag. That would see him equal Ayrton Senna for second on the list of most races led from start to end.
If Max Verstappen leads the Drivers’ Championship after any race in 2026, it will be the 79th race after which he has led the standings. He will overtake Alain Prost for the most rounds after which a driver has led the title race.
Max Verstappen holds the record for wins from the most different grid positions in Formula 1. He’ll become the first driver to win from 11 different grid slots this weekend should he win from 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th or 20th on the grid.
A victory for Red Bull would be their 131st win, equalling Mercedes for third on the list of all-time Grand Prix victories.
A victory for Red Bull in 2026 would make this the 11th consecutive season in which they have won a Grand Prix. They would be the fifth team to have won in as many as 11 successive seasons, after Lotus, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.
A fastest lap at any race in 2026 would see Red Bull set a new record for the most consecutive seasons in which a team has set a fastest lap. Having set fastest laps in every season since 2009, Red Bull are currently tied for the record with Ferrari, who set fastest laps in all 17 seasons from 1995 to 2011.
If a Red Bull driver leads a Grand Prix in 2026, it will be the 20th consecutive season in which the team has led races in as many as 20 successive years. Red Bull will be the third team to reach the milestone. McLaren hold the record for most consecutive years in which a team has led laps, having led in all 34 years from 1981 to 2014. Ferrari are the only other team to lead laps in as many as 20 years in a row, having done so twice – from 1950 to 1972 and from 1993 to 2019.
Ferrari to the Fore?
A win for Ferrari would make 2026 the 60th season in which they’ve won a Grand Prix.
At the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc will equal Kimi Raikkonen as the driver who has made the second-most starts with Ferrari.
A pole position for Charles Leclerc would see him equal Nigel Mansell for eighth on the list of most poles with a single team. Mansell took 28 poles with Williams during his career, while Leclerc has taken 27 poles with Ferrari to date.
A win for Lewis Hamilton would make him the 16th driver to have won Grands Prix with as many as three different teams.
A victory for Lewis Hamilton in 2026 would see him extend his record for the most different seasons in which a driver has won a Grand Prix to 17.
Lewis Hamilton has been eliminated in Q1 at all of the last three race weekends. Another Q1 exit at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix would make this the first time in his career that he has recorded Q1 eliminations at four races in a row.
If Lewis Hamilton leads a lap in 2026, he would extend his record for the most consecutive seasons in which a driver has led a lap of a Grand Prix to 20.
A fastest lap for Lewis Hamilton in 2026 would see him extend the record for most consecutive seasons in which a driver has recorded a fastest lap. His streak is currently 16 years, having started in 2010.
A points finish for Lewis Hamilton at any race in 2026 would make him only the second driver, after Fernando Alonso, to have scored points in as many as 20 different Formula 1 seasons. He’d also extend his record for the most consecutive seasons in which a driver has scored a point.
A Grand Slam for Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton – winning from pole position having led every lap and set the fastest lap – would be their seventh Grand Slam. It would see them take outright second place on the list of most Grand Slams in F1, behind only Jim Clark.
A victory for a Ferrari-powered car at any race in 2026 would be the engine manufacturer’s 250th Grand Prix win. The works team have taken all but one of the previous 249 wins for Ferrari power – the exception being Sebastian Vettel’s victory at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
Longevity Records on Offer for Alonso
Lewis Hamilton enters into his 20th Formula 1 season in 2026. He becomes only the second driver, after Fernando Alonso, to start races in as many as 20 different seasons.
Fernando Alonso races in the 2026 Australian Grand Prix 25 years and four days after making his debut at Albert Park in 2001. He becomes the first driver to have a gap of longer than 25 years between his first and last race starts.
Fernando Alonso’s last win came at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. A victory at any race in 2026 would see him set a new record for the longest gap between wins in F1 history, by quite a margin. Riccardo Patrese holds the current record, having waited 6 years, 6 months and 28 days between wins at the 1983 South African Grand Prix and the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix.
A podium finish for Fernando Alonso at any race in 2026 would see him overtake Alain Prost for fifth on the list of most podium finishes in Formula 1. Both drivers have recorded 106 top three finishes.
If Fernando Alonso leads a race, he would become only the third driver – after Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to have led a lap of a Grand Prix in as many as 16 different seasons.
A victory for Fernando Alonso in 2026 would make him only the fourth driver – after Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart and Alain Prost to have won with as many as four different constructors during his Formula 1 career.
The Other Formula 1 Records Which Could Be Broken
A pole position for Lewis Hamilton at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix would see him equal his own record for the most poles at a single circuit. His current record is nine, at the Hungaroring. Hamilton has taken eight poles to date at Albert Park.
If George Russell finishes the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, it will be the 35th consecutive race which he has finished. It would see him overtake Daniel Ricciardo for the fourth-most consecutive finishes in Formula 1.
A sixth place finish for Carlos Sainz or Fernando Alonso will see them equal Felipe Massa for the most sixth place finishes in F1 history. Massa recorded 27 sixth place finishes during his career, while Sainz and Alonso have had 26 to date.
A pole position for Mercedes at any race in 2026 would see them equal the record for the most consecutive seasons in which a team has taken pole. Mercedes have secured at least one pole position in all of the last 14 years, since 2012. The record is held by Ferrari, who took poles in all 15 years between 1994 and 2008.
The Australian Grand Prix Records On Offer
A victory for Lewis Hamilton at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix would make him only the fourth driver – after Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel – to have won as many as three races at Albert Park.
Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz or Lando Norris could become the eighth driver to have won multiple races at Albert Park.
A victory for Ferrari would see them equal McLaren as the team with the most Australian Grand Prix victories. McLaren have taken 12 wins to date in Adelaide and Melbourne. Meanwhile, a victory for a Ferrari-powered car would see Ferrari equal Mercedes at the most successful engine manufacturer in Australia.
McLaren could equal Ferrari as the team with the most podium finishes at Albert Park – but only if both McLaren drivers finish on the podium with neither Ferrari driver in the top three. The two teams are tied for most overall Australian Grand Prix podium finishes, with 28 apiece in Adelaide and Melbourne combined.
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are currently tied for the most points-scoring appearances at the Australian Grand Prix, with 14 apiece. Either driver could set a new outright record this weekend, while Hamilton can equal Alonso’s record of 15 top ten results at Albert Park.
If Lewis Hamilton scores five or more points in the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, he will become the first driver to have scored as many as 200 points at Albert Park.
Lewis Hamilton will set a new record for the most laps led by a driver at Albert Park if he leads 41 laps of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri will be hoping to maintain his 100% points rate at the Australian Grand Prix, having scored points on all three of his previous appearances at Albert Park.
2026 Australian Grand Prix: Qualifying Records
A pole position for Max Verstappen at the 2026 Australian Grand Prix would make him only the fifth driver to have taken as many as three poles at Albert Park.
Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren are all currently tied as the teams with the most pole positions at Albert Park, with six apiece. Another pole for any of those three teams this weekend would see them set a new outright record, while Red Bull could equal the existing record.
A Q1 exit for Lance Stroll or Pierre Gasly would see them equal Marcus Ericsson’s record of four Q1 eliminations at the Australian Grand Prix.