‘It’s been a long time coming’ – Russell hails ‘incredible’ victory in Australian GP

George Russell praised Mercedes’ hard work as he beat Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc to victory in the Australian Grand Prix, celebrating that their strong showing in the opening round has “been a long time coming”.

The 28-year-old stormed to a dominant pole position in Saturday’s Qualifying hour, eking out an advantage of three-tenths over his team mate, with his next closest rival in Isack Hadjar another half a second adrift.

But at lights out, Russell faced a challenge from Leclerc, who charged through from P4 to claim the lead of the race at Turn 1 and kick off a gripping battle between the pair. They exchanged first place multiple times over the first 10 laps, only easing off when Hadjar pulled onto the grass to prompt a Virtual Safety Car.

Speaking after the race, Russell said: “I’m feeling incredible. It was a hell of a fight at the beginning. We knew it was going to be challenging.

“I got on the grid, saw my battery level had nothing in the tank, made a bad start and then obviously [had] some really tight battles with Charles, so I was really glad to cross the finish line.”

Opting to pit both cars in the slower speed conditions, the Silver Arrows ultimately took the chequered flag ahead of both Ferrari drivers, with the Scuderia choosing to stay out and extend their first stint on the medium tyres.

Russell reported over the radio that he felt comfortable attempting the one-stop strategy, which paid off – once he passed Lewis Hamilton on track, he faced little pressure in the lead and finished 2.9s ahead of Antonelli.

“Honestly, thank you so much to the whole team because it’s been a long time coming to have this car beneath us and we couldn’t start off in a better way,” the Briton added. “We had this suspicion that it was going to be a bit of a yo-yo effect, and as soon as one of us got in front, it just felt impossible to hold it.

“With this Straight Mode we lose a lot of the front end on the car so we’re sort of just understeering a lot around these corners. It was a bit sketchy, but I made it in one piece and I’m just glad to be 1-2.”