Dominant Russell wins Australian Grand Prix in Mercedes 1-2

George Russell kept his cool to win a frantic season-opening Australian Grand Prix yesterday from Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli after a thrilling battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The pole-sitting Briton took the chequered flag by 2.974secs in Melbourne with Leclerc third and Lewis Hamilton fourth in a race that tested Formula One’s new-look cars for the first time in competitive conditions.

World champion Lando Norris came fifth -- 51 seconds adrift -- in his McLaren with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a sensational sixth after starting from 20th following a crash in qualifying.

But there was disaster for home hero Oscar Piastri, who crashed on his out-lap to the grid and failed to start with major damage to his McLaren. With the virtual safety car repeatedly brought out, pre-season favourite Russell stayed calm to clock a sixth Grand Prix win and his first since Singapore last year. AFP

Under new rules, half of every power unit now is a battery and drivers had to recharge while braking or by lifting off the throttle to avoid it draining.

The challenge of Melbourne’s 58-lap Albert Park circuit was its long sweeping straights, which deplete batteries, and relatively few twisty turns to brake and charge it up again.

Five cars failed to finish as they grappled with the changes, including Piastri, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

source: Daily Mirror