Russell resists early Ferrari pressure to win Australian Grand Prix

George Russell led home teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli for a comfortable Mercedes one-two finish despite an enthralling early-race skirmish with Charles Leclerc.

The 24-car grid was whittled down to 22 starters after 2025 title contender Oscar Piastri crashed on the way to the grid at Turn 4 after taking too big a bite of the exit curb, though the Australian said his power unit also surged with an unexpected extra 130 horsepower when he squeezed the throttle.

Nico Hulkenberg then had his Audi wheeled off the grid moments before the formation lap with a technical problem.

The grid finally set, Leclerc made a lightning start from fourth and boldly threaded his Ferrari between Arvid Lindblad and polesitter Russell to emerge from the first turn with the lead.

Hamilton has a similarly blistering getaway and came close to following Leclerc all the way to the front from seventh on the grid, but the Briton found himself wide exiting the first turn, which cost him momentum and dropped him to fifth.

The Ferrari, though, was clearly in fine form loaded up with fuel. Hamilton made short work of both Hadjar and Arvid Lindblad to haul himself into third by the end of the first lap. It gave him a front-row seat to an engrossing battle between Russell and Leclerc for the lead, with both feeling their way to the limits of the new engine regulations.

Russell made his first move on lap 2, sweeping past Leclerc on the run down to Turn 11 with a battery boost. Leclerc, however, fought back on the following lap with a burst of battery power along the back straight to take Russell around the outside of the chicane before holding back the Briton into Turn 11. They went wheel to wheel into Turn 11 on lap 6, Russell on the inside, but Leclerc held his nerve to force the Mercedes to yield.

“That was very dangerous of Leclerc,” Russell complained, though the stewards took no issue with the move.

Russell changed up his approach, saving his boost for Turn 3, where he got underneath Leclerc at the apex to take the place, but the Monaco native fought back easily into the chicane again, forcing another rethink.

The Mercedes driver tried again with a lunge on the brakes into the first turn, but a dramatic lock-up, sparks flying into the air, forced him to pull out and hold second place ahead of the lurking Hamilton.

His route into the lead came on lap 11, when Hadjar, who had been having a lively battle with Lindblad in the opening stint, pulled off the road down the back straight with smoke billowing from the back of his Red Bull Racing car.

Russell and Antonelli – who had dropped to seventh off the line with a battery issue but recovered to fourth after 16 laps – both took the chance to pit for fresh tires, as did most of the rest of the field. Ferrari, however, passed up the opportunity, believing it to be too early to stop. It was a critical misjudgment that handed Mercedes a comfortable lead.

Neither Russell nor Antonelli encountered any tire issues despite their long second stint. Ferrari, meanwhile, wasn’t in a position to benefit from Valtteri Bottas’s stoppage on lap 17 – both cars were already past pit entry at the time it was called, and pit entry was subsequently closed to recover the stopped Cadillac on the apex of the final turn. It meant both Leclerc and Hamilton had to stop with the field at full racing speed on laps 25 and 28 respectively, dropping them to third and fourth.

With tire degradation lower than the team expected, it had no chance of catching an overhauling Mercedes. Russell cruised to a comfortable 2.97s victory over teammate Antonelli, who was 12.55s ahead of the forlorn Leclerc.

“I’m feeling incredible,” he said. “It was a hell of a fight at the beginning.

“We know it was going to be challenging. I got onto the grid. I saw my battery level had nothing in the tank. I made a bad start, and then obviously some really tight battles with Charles, so I was really glad to cross the finish line [first].

“Thank you so much to the whole team, because it’s been a long time coming to have this car beneath us.”

Antonelli praised the new style of racing after recovering from his poor start.

“Overall it was a good race,” he said. “The pace was very strong, especially at the end.

“The racing was incredible, the first few laps, with the overtake [mode]. It’s so powerful that it can give a lot of action, so it was really good fun.”

Leclerc didn’t think Ferrari could have beaten Russell to victory but was heartened by the small gap.

“P3 is the best we could do today,” he said. “Maybe I’m wrong.

“It looked like Mercedes had a bit more pace than us today, but maybe not as much as what we saw yesterday [in qualifying], so that’s a good thing, but I don’t think we could have won.”

Hamilton, having lamented during the race that Ferrari didn’t at least split strategies at the first virtual safety car, was forced to accept fourth, stretching to 25 grands prix his non-podium streak with the Italian team.

Lando Norris held off 2025 title rival Max Verstappen in the final stint to finish a muted fifth, the McLaren driver taking the checkered flag almost a minute behind leader Russell.

Verstappen’s race was heartening, the Dutchman using two stops to rise from effectively 18th on the grid to sixth.

Oliver Bearman headed the lapped midfield for Haas in seventh, with Racing Bulls rookie Lindblad beating Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto in eighth.

Pierre Gasly scored the final point of the race in 10th by holding off Esteban Ocon in the second Haas car ahead of Alex Albon and Liam Lawson.

Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz were lapped twice in 14th and 15th, while Sergio Perez recorded a finish in Cadillac’s first race, the Mexican two laps down.

The race of high attrition saw Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso retire with technical problems, joining Bottas, Hadjar, Hulkenberg and Piastri on the sidelines.
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