I’ll start with this: Saturday night’s 2026 Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix features 120 overtakes. The 2025 race? 45.
Prior to writing this blog, I shared my thoughts about how much overtaking and general racing action I witnessed during the race—which, by the way—is the first Aussie GP I’ve actually managed to stay awake in probably a decade. Some friends and colleagues agreed about those two factors making things way more exciting and interesting for spectators, whether on TV or in person. Others, however, argued that overtakes only took place because the car being passed was coasting. In other words, it couldn’t defend itself. A valid argument, sure, though I’m not sure how different that is from the old DRS, but that’s a different blog for a different day.
But, really, regardless of how you feel about the 2026 regulations, cars, and how they’ve been applied, I’d really question anyone opposing any factor that led to a nearly 3x increase in overtakes. I mean, as a proud Indy resident and Indy 500 superfan, I enjoy watching drivers fight and pass each other (crazy, I know), so to witness seven lead changes in the opening nine laps for an F1 race, I was on the edge of my seat!
And that’s not even mentioning what was going on in the middle and back of the field. Audi F1’s Bortoleto put in a heroic drive to ninth place, earning Audi two valuable points on its first-ever race. And it would’ve scored even more had it not been for Nico Hulkenberg’s unfortunate retirement. And then there was Oliver Bearman in the Haas, finishing in seventh place, and perhaps even more surprisingly, rookie Arvid Lindblad coming in eighth place in the Racing Bulls car and showing Liam Lawson how it’s really done. Sadly, Valtteri Bottas had to retire his Cadillac due to a mechanical failure, but Sergio Perez soldiered on and saw the checkered flag.
Really, just a great race with an exciting first stage, a period of stabilization following the first round of pit stops, and then some more action toward the end. I’m here for it, and I hope it stays this way—or maybe gets even better as teams come to terms with their cars.
Listen, I get it, this was just the first GP of the year, and every team and driver is just coming to grips with energy recuperation, deployment, and many other intricacies introduced by the 2026 rule changes. Heck, braking seems to be an enormous variable now, and even top-tier drivers like Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri got caught out by rear-axle-braking gizmos. So, sure, maybe I’m celebrating too early, and China won’t bring nearly as much passing, but even if it doesn’t triple last year’s figures—maybe it just doubles it—that’s still pretty darn good, don’t you think?
I’m not asking you to say with the utmost of confidence whether this will be a banger of a season or not, but merely, after what you witnessed in Australia, do you feel like the new regs have improved on-track action? Let me know in the comments.
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