Formula 1's new era began with 120 overtakes including a feisty battle between George Russell and Charles Leclerc in the early phase of the Australian Grand Prix.

Russell went on to win the season-opener in Melbourne from Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli with Leclerc in third and Lewis Hamilton in fourth, but there was plenty of paddock chatter about the new style of racing.

New power-unit regulations have led to more emphasis on electrical output usage, which caused varying straight-line speeds going into corners, as Russell and Leclerc showed by swapping the lead seven times in nine laps.

While Russell was able to blast past Leclerc several times, the Ferrari driver would re-pass him on the next lap due to having Overtake Mode - an activation which allows for a higher speed tolerance over a lap when the driver is one second behind.

"Honestly, the first 10 laps of the race, I'm not sure that I saw something like this in the last 10 years," said Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur.

"We have to keep this in mind but it's not a given how it will be like this on the weekend. It's a very good start for the sport, a very good start for the show.

"The fans, they enjoy probably a lot of the opening stage, but let's continue like this. If we have to react at one stage after a couple of races, we will react, but it would be a mistake to do it too quickly."

But some drivers were critical of the racing on Sunday including reigning world champion Lando Norris and Haas' Esteban Ocon, who both labelled it "artificial".

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said: "How the regulations are at the moment is that in a close fight, close proximity to other cars, it's very difficult to break free.

"Therefore, performances converge, which makes it exciting if it was really to continue like this. Once you have a free air, then the pace shows.

"But both components are part of a great race. And the race pace at the end was very encouraging from our side. But at the beginning, there was nothing between Ferrari and Mercedes."

Verstappen, Norris among drivers to criticise regulations

Max Verstappen has voiced his concerns over the new regulations since they were first announced in 2022, and said during pre-season testing that it felt like "Formula E on steroids".

Verstappen is referring to the "lift and coast" or "superclipping" elements where drivers stop accelerating towards the end of the straight so their batteries can recharge and they can use more electrical energy coming out of a corner.

"I love racing, but you can only take so much," he said after the Australian Grand Prix, where he came from 20th to sixth after a bizarre crash in qualifying.

"I know that they're, well, I think they're willing to listen, the FIA and F1, but I just hope that there is some action because it's not that I'm the only one saying it - a lot of people are speaking the same.

"If it's drivers, fans, we just want the best for the sport. It's not that we are critical just to be critical. We are critical for a reason, we want it to be Formula 1, you know, proper Formula 1 on steroids. Today, of course, again, that was not the case."

During pre-season testing, Norris countered Verstappen's comments and quipped "if he wants to retire, he can retire". However, the McLaren driver appears to have changed his stance following the season-opener.

"It's a shame, it's very artificial," he said.

"Depending on what the power unit decides to do and randomly does at times, you just get overtaken by five cars or you can just do nothing about it sometimes."

Hamilton 'loved' new racing and Russell calls for patience

Hamilton, who openly disliked the previous ground-effect cars that F1 had from 2022 and 2025, had a perfect view of the lead battle and was the most positive driver about Sunday's racing.

"I personally loved it. The race was really fun to drive. the car was really, really fun to drive. I watched the cars ahead and there was good battling back and forth," he said.

"It was awesome. With 20 cars ahead of you it may have seemed different. But from my position I thought it was great."

Russell and Leclerc both called it "different" with the Mercedes driver pointing out Albert Park is one of the challenging tracks in terms of energy deployment.

"The interesting thing with these regs is every track we go to, they're not always going to be like this," said Russell.

"We're going to Shanghai next where you've got one big, long straight, so the majority of drivers will be using their energy on that one straight. You don't need to divide it up between four like you do here in Melbourne.

"Everyone's very quick to criticise things. You need to give it a shot. We're 22 drivers. When we've had the best cars and the least tyre degradation and when we've been happiest, everyone moans the racing's rubbish.

"Now drivers aren't perfectly happy and everyone said it was an amazing race. So, you can't have it all, and we should just give it a chance and see after a few more races."

Perhaps Wolff summed it up best when he said the opinion of the fans should be taken into account and whether, as Russell puts it, the Australian Grand Prix "made for some pretty good drama on TV" despite driver complaints.

Formula 1 heads to Shanghai for the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 season at the Chinese Grand Prix from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime

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