Dominant Russell wins Australian Grand Prix in Mercedes 1-2

[ad_1] George Russell saved his cool to win a frantic season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday from Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli after an exhilarating 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 examined Components One's new-look automobiles for the primary time in aggressive situations.

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World champion Lando Norris got here fifth -- 51 seconds adrift -- in his McLaren with Crimson Bull's Max Verstappen a sensational sixth after ranging from twentieth following a crash in qualifying.

However there was catastrophe for house hero Oscar Piastri, who crashed on his out-lap to the grid and failed to begin with main injury to his McLaren.

With the digital security automotive repeatedly introduced out, pre-season favorite Russell stayed calm to clock a sixth Grand Prix win and his first since Singapore final 12 months.

"Feeling unbelievable. It was a hell of a struggle at first," mentioned Russell. "We knew it was going to be difficult.

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"I made a nasty begin and a few actually tight battles with Charles in the beginning. Simply actually glad to cross the end line."

Beneath new guidelines, half of each energy unit now could be a battery and drivers needed to recharge whereas braking or by lifting off the throttle to keep away from it draining.

The problem of Melbourne's 58-lap Albert Park circuit was its lengthy sweeping straights, which deplete batteries, and comparatively few twisty turns to brake and cost it up once more.

5 automobiles failed to complete as they grappled with the modifications, together with Piastri, Audi's Nico Hulkenberg, Crimson Bull's Isack Hadjar, Cadillac's Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

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- Sturdy tempo -

"Was not the perfect begin we may have wished for, misplaced loads of locations and I needed to get better," mentioned Italy's Antonelli, who crashed closely on Saturday and solely simply made qualifying after a serious automotive rebuild.

"However general was a superb race, the tempo was actually sturdy particularly on the finish."

In nice situations, Haas' Ollie Bearman was seventh and rookie Arvid Lindblad eighth in his Racing Bull. Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine's Pierre Gasly rounded out the highest 10.

"It was a really, very difficult race. None of us knew what to anticipate," mentioned Leclerc.

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"It has been fairly difficult. It regarded like Mercedes had a bit extra tempo than us right now."

When the lights turned inexperienced Leclerc, on medium tyres, received a leap on Russell whereas Antonelli, who began second, slid all the way down to seventh.

Hamilton additionally had a flying begin for Ferrari and surged to 3rd, forward of Hadjar.

Russell instantly hit again, reclaiming the lead on lap two earlier than Leclerc responded a lap later to go first once more as they and Hamilton started pulling clear.

It morphed into an exhilarating wheel-to-wheel battle on the entrance, with the lead altering fingers 3 times on lap eight as Russell and Leclerc fought for supremacy.

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The digital security automotive got here out on lap 12 when Hadjar's automotive stopped with Russell and Antonelli pitting and coming again on hards.

Leclerc and Hamilton stayed out and after they resumed the Ferraris had been 10 seconds away from Russell, with Lindblad, Antonelli and Verstappen making up the highest six.

The digital security automotive was once more deployed when Bottas retired with Russell eight seconds behind the Scuderia after they received going once more.

Together with his tyres beginning to put on, Leclerc pitted on lap 26 however Hamilton stayed out and was handed by Russell earlier than coming in.

Russell radioed that he thought a one-stop race was viable and he started pulling clear, with Antonelli second.

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And there was no means again for the Ferraris, who had been 15 seconds behind and barely made a dent within the Mercedes benefit within the second half of the race.

The season strikes to China subsequent weekend earlier than Japan. Rounds 4 and 5 are scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia however are underneath menace given the battle in Iran.