Dennis Hauger has won his first race for MP Motorsport as he took a lights-to-flag victory in Melbourne.
Hauger claimed reverse grid pole position on Saturday and had a clean start ahead of fellow Red Bull junior driver Jak Crawford, who was unable to mount a challenge throughout the 22 laps.
There was extremely tight racing in the midfield pack in the opening laps, but no major incidents occurred.
Equipped with the Soft tyre, Arthur Leclerc shaped up Kush Maini on lap seven for third place and briefly moved in front of the Indian driver. However in the next braking zone, Maini stormed back through to take back the position.
![Franco Colpinto [front] avoided Liam Lawson [back] at the start of the Australian GP](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Franco-Colapinto-F1-Aus-GP-120x86.webp)
There was a threat of rain in the air and it began to fall as the race progressed. The situation then became more complicated when a Safety Car was called on lap 14 following contact between Jack Doohan and Juan Manuel Correa.
Doohan was forced to retire from the race and a lengthy Safety Car period followed in which several drivers opted to pit for the Wet compound.
The race resumed on the penultimate lap after Brad Benavides retired under the Safety Car and it soon became clear that the Wet tyre was not the right compound to be on.
Hauger avoided mistakes and held on for the win, crossing the line in front of Crawford and Maini.
Leclerc had to settle for fourth, ahead of another pair of Red Bull juniors in Zane Maloney and Isaac Hadjar.
The Prema duo of Oliver Bearman and Frederick Vesta battled hard on the final lap and crossed the line in seventh and eighth respectively.
Roy Nissany was ninth, with Richard Vershoor rounding out the top 10.
![Franco Colpinto [front] avoided Liam Lawson [back] at the start of the Australian GP](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Franco-Colapinto-F1-Aus-GP-350x250.webp)
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