George Russell enjoys ‘hell of a fight’ to win season-opening race in Australia

George Russell said he overcame a “hell of a fight” to land an “incredible” win in Australia and lay down a heavyweight marker in his world championship bid.

Pole-sitter Russell lost out to a fast-starting Charles Leclerc at the first corner in Melbourne before going on to trade the lead with his Ferrari rival five times during a frenetic start.

At the beginning of the ninth lap, Russell locked up under braking as he attempted to clear Leclerc, but their yo-yo battle ended when Isack Hadjar stopped with an engine failure and the Virtual Safety Car was deployed.

Russell pitted for new tyres but Ferrari erroneously kept Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton out on track. Ferrari’s blunder allowed Russell to race to the chequered flag unopposed.

Celebrating George and Kimi’s first 1-2 together with the Team ❤️ pic.twitter.com/5K4AhW6PaR

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 8, 2026

“I am feeling incredible,” said Russell. “It was a hell of a fight at the beginning.

“I had some really tight battles with Charles, so I was glad to cross the finish line. It’s been a long time coming to have this car beneath us.”

Russell, 28, joined Mercedes when their stranglehold on the sport came to an end.

But the Englishman, now in his fourth season there, has a car to fight for the biggest prize in motor racing with Mercedes positioning themselves as the team to beat. In the other car, Kimi Antonelli dropped to seventh but finished a comfortable second in the end.

“The most important feeling is so much contentment we feel as a team,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

“We had such a long winning stretch, winning eight championships. Then a difficult period. But after a solid one-two, you feel you are fighting for a world title.

“Ferrari