Prior to Suzuka, the Australian driver had completed the same number of racing laps as you reading this (unless, you know, hello F1 drivers!) and had sort of drifted into zero-point anonymity after crashing out on a reconnaissance lap in his home race and a mechanical problem giving him a DNS in Shanghai. But when he did finally start for the first Grand Prix of the season, he reminded everyone how good he actually is.

He took the lead in the first corner with a brilliant start and seemed confident that he could hold this lead for his first win since Netherlands last season. He might have managed it had the safety car not been summoned when it was, but for all the vocal discontent from the drivers, a reliable McLaren looks like the best racing threat to combat Mercedes’ dominance.

Ferrari are also there, but after three races, the new era currently looks like this: Ferrari start well, and they manage to get ahead of a Mercedes lockout established the day before. Toto will tell Russell to keep his head down. Overtakes then come from Russell and Kimi Antonelli, McLaren are there or thereabouts but are unable to beat their engine supplier, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton battle it out for a few laps, the Aston Martins don’t finish the race and either the British or Italian anthem is played before the champagne (or fizzy water in Kimi’s case) is sprayed.

What differs is where they do the above. Japan had an added twist of papaya (can you twist a papaya?) as last season’s champions finally began their season properly.

Reliability is starting to become a bit more predictable as the teams adapt to the new regulations (except for viewers in Aston Martin) and in some ways, teams losing out through machinery had become a rarer occurrence under the new regulations. Retirements and DNS on driver cards should be more prominent in a sport where everything is theoretically run on a 200mph+ knife edge and plumes of blue smoke and disappointment shouldn’t be unusual when the slightest movement creates chaos, celebrations and careers.

To show how well Teams had adapted to the previous formula, we can look at this year, where we have had 15 Grand Prix DNFs or DNS this season (I’m including Lance Stroll’s 15-lap deficit in Melbourne). In 2025, that is the same number as the final eight races (from Baku inclusive). 

Teams had nearly perfected reliability in the ground effect era, gluing the cars to the tarmac so drivers could attack with confidence, removing some of the unpredictability while overtakes became rarer at the same time. And it is a tribute too to the current crop of drivers, all of whom have had to adjust their driving styles and work out when to deploy and conserve.

That makes Piastri’s first finish of the season even more impressive. His rivals have had two full weekends to understand their cars more, and for all the time you can put into a simulator, it isn’t the same, and yet Piastri was able to negotiate his way to second and put into play the possibility that 2026 won’t be all Mercedes, all the time. Maybe at the right circuit, Piastri or Norris could be the team to push Mercedes off the top spot.

Piastri and McLaren being second puts the F1 narrative in an interesting place now, because it’s clear Mercedes are the true class of F1 in 2026 and Ferrari have a car built to dominate the early stages of a race. McLaren now sit in the middle. They have a driver who has won a championship, like Ferrari, and recent Constructors’ success, like Mercedes. 

It also pushes Best of the Rest back to seventh, with a superb finish for Pierre Gasly, joining the Merc and Ferrari pairings with points during every weekend so far.* But what was interesting is that above him the cars finished in identical order. Mercedes from McLaren from Ferrari. This obviously does not mean there is a definitive driver hierarchy, and the safety car had something to say about it, but not finishing in strict 2x2 order also means that the reverse is also possible. We have six drivers pushing for first, which isn’t something we’ve realistically had for a few years now.

With Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur predicting that April will be a productive month for upgrades, combined with the FIA promising meetings (if not changes) over this enforced month off, Miami may well be the true start of the season. It’s a shame we have to wait so long. Again.

_{*There is half a content idea about Gasly so far which I might write over Spring Break.}

Apologies, this next bit is a bit serious

Formula 1 enters its Spring Break as the global situation means there will be no racing in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia in April. While there are those hopeful that at least one of these races could be run later in 2026, I would be more cautious, although I am not pretending to a) have any non-public info and b) to be any form of expert on conflict in the region.

But I’ll make a prediction. Rounds 21 and 22 of the revised season are due to take place in Qatar in late November and Abu Dhabi a week after. With no endgame in sight, my prediction is that these races are either moved to other venues or called off. 

Azerbaijan, which directly borders Iran, is up in late September. If you are the FIA, how confident can you be to protect people? Compared to actual war, it is not important, but imagine if there is a title battle that is also called off alongside the racing.

🍁 IndyCar lead presenter Will Buxton said it was “very likely” Formula 2 will support F1 in Montreal, meaning Colton Herta would be unavailable for the Indy500

‼️F1 got utterly dragged, getting double community noted on the hellsite after they were unable to post a full onboard lap of Antonelli’s pole lap, with people accusing them of not showing super clipping

🚗 Lewis Hamilton at Daikoku before the Grand Prix couldn’t be cooler

⚡ The Formula E rookie test is a good way to show who’s next

All the headlines in 2026 are video game references.

This took far too too long to find, but this advert has stuck in my memory for most of my life for some reason. Will you ever reach the Super NintENDo?