New power units, active aero, and a reshuffled grid -- Australia, China, and Japan have rewritten the order. Russell won the opener, but Antonelli's back-to-back wins have made the teenager the runaway story of 2026 while Red Bull misread the new rules.
When the 2026 Formula 1 regulations were finalised, the promise was simple: closer racing, a new power unit formula splitting energy recovery and internal combustion roughly 50/50, simplified aerodynamics, active aero elements, and lighter cars. After three rounds in Australia, China, and Japan, we can say this much with certainty -- the regulations have delivered on their promise to reshuffle the competitive order. They have crowned an unlikely leader, humbled a four-time champion, and handed the sport its most compelling new star in a generation. And his name is Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Round 1 -- Australia: Mercedes Open the Era
Melbourne's Albert Park circuit hosted the dawn of the new era, and the first genuine surprise came in qualifying. George Russell put the Mercedes W17 on pole position, a full three tenths clear of Max Verstappen. The Brackley team, which had spent the latter part of the 2020s rebuilding after the ground-effect stumble of 2022, appeared to have nailed the new regulations' aerodynamic philosophy. Toto Wolff was cautiously ecstatic. The paddock was stunned.
And then the race confirmed it. Russell controlled the Grand Prix from the front, and when Red Bull tried to undercut their way ahead on lap 18, Mercedes covered the move and Russell emerged still in the lead. He took the flag 4.6 seconds clear -- a measured, complete victory that announced the W17 as the class of the field on Sunday as well as Saturday. Verstappen could only manage second, the RB22 fast in flashes but lacking the breadth Red Bull had promised. Lando Norris fought from P5 to a strong third on a bold one-stop, ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
The result that raised eyebrows for the wrong reasons was Hamilton's. The seven-time champion qualified 11th and raced to seventh -- not disastrous for a first outing in red, but far from the level expected. The paddock murmured about adaptation time. In the second Mercedes, meanwhile, a quiet teenager named Antonelli banked his first points of the year with an unflashy run that gave little hint of what was coming.
Round 2 -- China: Antonelli's Historic First Win
If Australia established the baseline, Shanghai detonated it. The Sprint format added chaos to an already unpredictable weekend, and it was Norris who mastered the damp Sprint conditions to win Saturday's shorter race. But the main event belonged, emphatically, to Antonelli.
The nineteen-year-old made a brilliant start from the front row, took the lead, and drove a Grand Prix of astonishing maturity -- managing his tyres and his gap with a composure that belied his age and his experience. He took the chequered flag to become the youngest race winner in the history of Formula 1, a record that tumbled almost as an afterthought to the sheer quality of the drive. Norris recovered to second, with Verstappen third after the RB22 once again faded over the race distance.
Ferrari, too, found something in China. Leclerc qualified third and ran in contention before a slow pit stop dropped him to fifth, while Hamilton qualified sixth and finished fourth -- a step forward that suggested the pieces were starting to fall into place. But the day, and increasingly the season, belonged to the teenager in silver.
Round 3 -- Japan: Antonelli Doubles Up, Hamilton's Red Podium
Suzuka was supposed to be Ferrari's moment. The high-speed sweeps of Turns 1 through 6 should have suited the SF-26's aerodynamic philosophy, and indeed Leclerc was magnificent in qualifying, taking pole with a lap that the onboard cameras showed was right on the edge of adhesion. Hamilton qualified fourth, continuing his upward trajectory.
The race, though, belonged once again to Antonelli. He shadowed Leclerc through the opening stint, and when a safety car -- caused by Lance Stroll's retirement at Spoon -- compressed the field, the teenager timed the restart to perfection. He drew alongside the Ferrari out of the final chicane and completed a clean, decisive pass down the pit straight, then drove away to his second win in a row. Leclerc recovered to second, his pole-sitting reward blunted but his pace undeniable.
The emotional heart of the weekend, though, was Lewis Hamilton. Third place delivered his first podium in Ferrari red, at a circuit where he has won three times before -- a milestone that visibly moved him in the cool-down room. It was proof of concept: he and Ferrari can fight at the front. Verstappen, by contrast, endured another anonymous afternoon outside the podium battle, the Red Bull's race pace evaporating on a circuit that should have suited it.
The Championship Picture
After three rounds, the World Drivers' Championship has a clear and unlikely leader: Andrea Kimi Antonelli. His back-to-back wins in China and Japan, added to a points finish in Australia, have lifted him to the top of the standings and made him the story of the season. Russell, despite winning the opener, finds himself chasing his own teammate. Behind the Mercedes pair, Ferrari are emerging as the best of the rest -- Hamilton's podium and Leclerc's pole pointing to a surge -- with McLaren's Norris and Piastri firmly in the fight.
And then there is Verstappen. The four-time champion sits adrift of the leaders, a passenger to a season that was supposed to be another coronation. Red Bull, by every indication, misjudged the radical 2026 regulations -- the active-aero and 50/50 power-unit package has not bent to the RB22 the way the team expected, and Verstappen has spent three weekends extracting a result the car does not naturally offer. For a driver accustomed to dictating terms, it is a humbling, disorienting start.
Mercedes lead the Constructors' Championship comfortably, the only team consistently quick on Saturday and Sunday alike. The depth of their pairing -- a proven winner in Russell and a generational talent in Antonelli -- has them clear of a chasing pack led by McLaren and an improving Ferrari.
Biggest Surprises
The headline shock is, of course, Antonelli. Few projected a maiden win in his second season, let alone two in a row and a championship lead by Round 3. His raw pace has exceeded even the most optimistic internal projections, and his racecraft -- the Suzuka restart pass in particular -- has the paddock reaching for comparisons to the very best of the modern era.
The other story is Red Bull's struggle. That a Verstappen-led team could so thoroughly misread a regulation reset is the kind of upset that reshapes a season, and it has handed Mercedes a window they have driven straight through. Ferrari, meanwhile, are quietly the most encouraging of the chasers, Hamilton's podium and Leclerc's speed pointing to better days ahead.
The Open Questions Heading into the European Season
Can anyone live with Antonelli over a full season, or is the teenager about to run away with the title? Will Red Bull find the development direction to rescue Verstappen's campaign? Can Ferrari convert Leclerc's qualifying speed and Hamilton's growing comfort into a victory? And how will Russell handle being outshone in his own garage by a nineteen-year-old?
Three rounds in, the 2026 regulations have given us a championship fight with a runaway leader nobody saw coming and a four-time champion searching for answers. That is what makes a regulation reset special -- nothing is certain, and everything is still to play for.