The 2026 Formula 1 season officially begins tonight with the start of activities for the Australian GP, held at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. The first real contact with the cars of the new technical era of F1 happens this Thursday, Brasília time, with the holding of FP1. 
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Due to the time difference between Brazil and Australia, the sessions take place between the night and the early morning for the Brazilian public. FP1 is scheduled for this Thursday at 22:30 (Brasília time), marking the start of the weekend for the first round of the 2026 season. 
A few hours later, in the early hours of Friday, FP2 takes place, scheduled for 02:00. The teams will take advantage of these first two sessions to understand the behavior of the new cars at the Albert Park street circuit, which mixes fast sections with heavy braking zones. 
The Australian GP schedule continues on Friday night, when FP3 will be held at 22:30. On Saturday, March 07, the first qualifying of the season takes place at 02:00, defining the starting grid for the race. 
The race that opens the championship will be held in the early hours of Sunday, March 08, with the start scheduled for 01:00 Brasília time. The race in Melbourne is scheduled for 58 laps or up to the maximum limit of two hours. 
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Check out the full schedule for the Australian GP (Brasília time, GMT -3):
Thursday, March 05
Free Practice 1 – 22:30
Friday, March 06
Free Practice 2 – 02:00
Free Practice 3 – 22:30
Saturday, March 07
Qualifying – 02:00
Sunday, March 08
Race – 01:00 
Brazilian fans will have several options to follow the start of the season. F1MANIA.NET will provide real-time text coverage of all the weekend’s sessions, with minute-by-minute updates directly from Albert Park. 
The broadcast with images of all activities will be available on F1 TV Pro and also on SporTV, which will show the practices, qualifying, and the race live. TV Globo will only broadcast Sunday’s race live on free-to-air TV. 
Thus, the first practices this Thursday officially mark the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season, which begins in Melbourne bringing a new generation of cars, important technical changes, and the first answers about who arrives strongest for the championship.
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