By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE, March 8 (Reuters) – Mercedes driver George Russell struck the first blow in the Formula One championship as he claimed an emphatic victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli and crushed an early challenge from Ferrari on Sunday.
Having dominated qualifying, pole-sitter Russell’s first win at Albert Park confirmed Mercedes’ pre-season 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.
“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 Briton finished nearly three seconds ahead of 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 some 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 over 50 seconds after Russell crossed.
Four-times 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.
THRILLING DUEL
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,” said Russell.
“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 and triggered a virtual safety car.
Mercedes called both their drivers in to 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 them should have gone in.
Leclerc was far from convinced 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.”
FERRARI SANDWICH
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.
Furious racing ensued as Leclerc and Russell fought wheel-to-wheel, and Russell nearly came unstuck when he locked up during one skirmish on lap nine.
While the Mercedes cars pitted early, Leclerc finally came in on lap 26, with Hamilton following a couple of laps later after surrendering the lead to Russell.
Out in front with teammate Antonelli one behind, Russell was confident one stop would be enough and so it proved as they burned away from the Ferraris for a thumping win.
Haas’ Oliver Bearman finished seventh, the best placing of the minor teams, while 18-year-old rookie Arvid Lindblad, the youngest-ever British F1 racer, came eighth, celebrating points in his debut race for Racing Bulls.
Ninth-placed Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.
New team Cadillac had an underwhelming race debut in Formula One, with Bottas retiring early and teammate Sergio Perez finishing 16th, the last of the classified results.
Struggling Aston Martin saw twice world champion Fernando Alonso retire after 21 laps and a long period in the garage.
His teammate Lance Stroll managed 43 laps and held on to the finish but the result was not classified.
Only 20 of the 22 cars started, with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg scratched just before the race due to a reliability problem.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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