Mercedes driver George Russell has struck the first blow in the Formula One ?championship by claiming an emphatic ?victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli, crushing an early challenge from Ferrari.
Having dominated qualifying, pole-sitter Russell’s first win at Albert Park on Sunday confirmed Mercedes’s preseason form while giving the team their first Melbourne victory since Valtteri ?Bottas in 2019.
“I like this car. I like this engine. Great job,” Russell said over the team radio after crossing the chequered flag.
“Great job, everybody. It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time coming to have this car beneath us.” Profiting from an early change of tyres, the British driver finished nearly three seconds before Italian Antonelli with Ferrari’s ?third-placed Charles Leclerc more than 15 seconds adrift after his team’s tyre strategy failed. It was a tough day for McLaren with home hero Oscar Piastri’s race over before it began with a crash during a reconnaissance lap about 40 minutes before the start. His teammate and defending champion Lando Norris finished fifth, one place behind the Ferrari of seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton – but more than 50 seconds after Russell crossed. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was sixth for Red Bull after starting 20th on the grid following a crash in Saturday’s qualifying. His teammate Isack Hadjar suffered an early retirement. Russell engaged in a thrilling early duel with Leclerc, the pair swapping the lead seven times in the opening nine laps. “It was a hell of a fight at the beginning,” Russell said. “I made a bad start and some really tight battles with Charles at the start – just really glad to cross the finish line.” There was ultimately daylight between Mercedes and the rest with Hadjar’s retirement the turning point. His Red Bull car stopped on lap 12 with smoke billowing out of the rear, triggering a virtual safety car. Mercedes called both their drivers into pit, swapping out medium tyres for hard compounds, and they rode them for the final 45 laps without issue.
Ferrari stayed out, much to ?the chagrin of Hamilton, who complained that at least one of the team’s drivers should have gone in. Leclerc was far from persuaded that ?Ferrari could have come out on top even had they taken an earlier stop. “I was happy to get out of the battle in first, but it didn’t help us later on,” he said. “I don’t think we could have won.” Fourth on the grid, Leclerc had a terrific start, sneaking through a tight gap between Hadjar and Russell to snatch the lead at the first corner.
With ?Piastri out of the race, Hamilton had a clear run in front of him and was soon up from seventh to third, leaving Russell in a Ferrari sandwich.