George Russell claims his first podium for Mercedes and secures second in the drivers’ championship at the Australian Grand Prix.
After achieving P5 in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton was confident he and his team mate could fight for a potential podium, but many considered that a pipe dream. However in a race that saw three retirements – including a Ferrari and Red bull – the Mercedes duo finished P3 and P4.
Just three races into an unsettled season for the team, this result handed Russell his first podium as a Mercedes driver and allowed him to take P2 in the drivers’ championship. Visibly moved, Russell described this success as a “credit to everyone back at Brackley and Brixworth” and said he and the team are “really proud of the job we’ve done so far.”
“Someone just told me I’m P2 in the championship” he told Sky Sports. “It’s just crazy to think.”
Though still bagging a place on the podium, the Mercedes drivers finished over 25 seconds behind race winner Charles Leclerc. On this Russell expressed “we believe we can get there but it’s not going to be over night and it’s going to be a number of races before we close the gap.”
Whilst defending from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Russell was told if fighting Perez was hurting his tyres, he should let him pass. To which the competitive Brit said “that’s not what I want to hear.”
When asked about this post-race, Russell was clear that “I don’t want to manage tyres, I’m a racing driver, I want to fight for position.” However looking retrospectively he admitted that “my tyre temperatures were really on the limit, if I pushed any harder I probably would’ve finished behind Lewis.”
Following Max Verstappen’s sudden retirement, the reliability struggles at Red Bull were on the Mercedes driver’s mind as he warned “it doesn’t matter how fast your car is if you’re not there at the end to pick up the pieces.”
Take a look below for the updated drivers’ championship standings.
F1 returns on 22-24th April at Imola.
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