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Mercedes driver George Russell took his first shot at the F1 championship with a commanding victory over teammate Kimi Antonelli in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, overcoming an early challenge from Ferrari.
After dominating qualifying, pole-sitter Russell took his first win at Albert Park on Sunday, confirming Mercedes’ strong pre-season form and giving the team its first Melbourne win since Valtteri Bottas in 2019.
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After passing the checkered flag, Russell said over the team radio, “I like this car. I like this engine. Great job.”
“Good job everyone. It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time since we’ve had this car under our wing.”
Thanks to an early tire change, the British driver finished nearly three seconds ahead of Italy’s Antonelli and more than 15 seconds behind third-placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, whose team’s tire strategy had failed.
It was a tough day for McLaren, with home hero Oscar Piastri’s race ending before it began with a crash during a reconnaissance lap around 40 minutes before the start.
His teammate and defending champion Lando Norris finished fifth, one place behind the Ferrari of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, but more than 50 seconds after Russell passed.
Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen finished 6th after starting 20th on the grid after a crash in Saturday’s qualifying. Teammate Izak Hajar suffered an early retirement.
“Hell’s Battle”
Russell engaged in a thrilling battle with Leclerc in the early stages, exchanging the lead seven times in the first nine laps.
“It was a hell of a fight at first,” Russell said.
“I had a bad start and got into a pretty close race with Charles at the start, but I’m really glad to have crossed the finish line.”
Hajar’s retirement was the turning point that ultimately saw the light of day between Mercedes and the rest of the team. His Red Bull car stopped on lap 12, smoke billowing from the rear and a virtual safety car was deployed.
Mercedes called both drivers to the pits, changed from medium tires to hard compounds, and ran the final 45 laps without incident.
Ferrari continued to be absent, much to Hamilton’s dismay, complaining that at least one of the team’s drivers should have participated.
Leclerc was in no way convinced that Ferrari could have taken the lead even if it had stopped earlier.
“I was happy to get out of the fight first, but it didn’t help me after that,” he said.
“I don’t think we could have won.”
ferrari sandwich
Leclerc, fourth on the grid, got off to a great start, slipping through a narrow gap between Hajar and Russell and taking the lead at the first corner.
With Piastri out of the race, Hamilton ran clearly in front and quickly moved from seventh to third, forcing Russell into a Ferrari sandwich.
A fierce race ensued as Leclerc and Russell battled wheel-to-wheel, but Russell nearly got stuck in a lock-up during a skirmish on lap nine.
With the Mercedes pitting early, Leclerc finally pitted on lap 26, relinquishing the lead to Russell, followed by Hamilton a few laps later.
With teammate Antonelli one place behind him, Russell was confident one stop would be enough. And it proved, with an emphatic victory from Ferrari.
Haas’ Oliver Bearman finished seventh, a best result for a minor team, while 18-year-old rookie Arvid Lindblad, the youngest ever British F1 racer, finished eighth, scoring points on his debut for Racing Bulls.
Audi driver Gabriel Bortleto, who finished ninth, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten.
The new Cadillac team had a disappointing debut in F1, with Bottas retiring early and teammate Sergio Perez finishing 16th.
Aston Martin struggled, with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso retiring after completing 21 laps and spending an extended period in the garage.
Teammate Lance Stroll ran 43 laps and held on until the end, but his results were not made public.
Only 20 of the 22 cars started with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg suffering a last-minute injury due to reliability issues.
