This brings a close to ABC Sport's live digital coverage of the Australian Grand Prix from Albert Park.

Oscar Piastri crashed before the start, and it felt like the world stopped for a moment as the crowd refused to believe what they saw.

Mercedes was excellent. George Russell won, and Kimi Antonelli was second.

Ferrari looked good on race pace, but another poor strategy decision cost them today.

Now, the F1 circus moves to China, where ABC Sport will continue to bring you all the action of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

I hope you join us for the ride. It's going to be bumpy.

Goodbye from Albert Park.

Well done, Arvid Lindblad.

Scoring points on your F1 debut is a magnificent achievement.

The Racing Bulls rookie, the only rookie on the grid, has finished eighth and scored four world championship points.

Audi took over from the old Sauber team and this afternoon was its first F1 grand prix.

And Audi is on the board with Gariel Boroleto finishing ninth, claiming two world championship points.

The biggest story of the day was Oscar Piastri not even starting his home grand prix.

The Melbourne-born McLaren driver went spinning into the wall at turn four, ending his race more than 30 minutes before it began.

The Australian says the team will do a full investigation, but he believes his car had a surge of power that he was not ready for.

"We need to review fully what happened. I got on the kerb a little bit, but from what we've seen as well … essentially, I had 100 kilowatts more power than I've had the whole weekend, at the point that I shifted.

"When I shifted, went into wheel spin, and given I was on the kerb already, it was a combination of bad factors.

"Things like that shouldn't be happening anywhere but especially at my home race, it's even more disappointing."

Charles Leclerc finished third today.

The Ferrari driver was involved in a great battle for the lead early in the race.

Ferrari's pit strategy hurt them today.

"It was a very, very tricky race. None of us knew what to expect," Leclerc said. 

"It has been quite challenging. It was a fun first part of the race.

"It looked like Mercedes had a bit more pace than us today, but not as much as yesterday, so that is a good thing."

Kimi Antonelli started second, but had a shocking start and dropped to seventh.

But the young Italian recovered well and finished second, about four seconds behind his victorious teammate.

"Was not the best start we could have wished for," Antonelli said.

"Lost a lot of places and I had to recover.

"But overall was a good race, the pace was really strong, especially at the end."

George Russell started from pole, but he did not have the lead after the first corner, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc launching from fourth to first.

Russell and Leclerc were engaged in a magnificent back-and-forth battle for the lead of the race.

But with a great car, great drive, and smarter pit strategy, Russell came out on top.

"It was a hell of a fight at the beginning. I made a bad start, and some really tight battles with Charles at the start," Russell said.

"Just really glad to cross the finish line."

Well done, Kimi Antonelli.

He started second and finished second, but there was work to be done.

He dropped to seventh on the first lap after a bad start, and his ability to fight back has been really good.

Well done Lando Norris.

The world champion held off a great challenge from Max Verstappen.

Norris is fifth and Verstappen is sixth.

Here is George Russell over his team radio.

"Very nice, very nice. I like this cars, I like these engines."

Charles Leclerc is third.

Lewis Hamilton is fourth.

George Russell has won the F1 Australian Grand Prix.

A great drive from the Briton.

His teammate, Kimi Antonelli, has finished second.

George Russell leads Kimi Antonelli by 4.2 seconds.

The gap from Antonelli to third place Charles Leclerc is about 11 seconds.

Hamilton is two seconds behind Leclerc.

Mercedes is surely going to win now.

The Ferraris are not going to catch them.

Great driving from George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, because these tyres went on at the start of lap 12.

Lando Norris is fifth.

He is holding off a challenge from Max Verstappen.

Verstappen has fresher tyres, but Norris is keeping just out of range.

This should be a great battle to the end.

George Russell and Kimi Antonelli still have a big gap to both Ferrari drivers.

However, the Ferrari drivers have much, much fresher tyres.

It is Hamilton, who is fourth, who is the quicker of the Ferraris, at the moment.

1. George Russell
2. Antonelli +6.6
3. Leclerc +15.9
4. Hamilton +20
5. Norris +54.8
6. Verstappen +56.6