Lewis Hamilton hails ‘great result’ for Mercedes after ‘unexpected’ fourth-placed finish at Australian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has lauded the performance of his Mercedes team after a much-improved display saw the Silver Arrows secure their second podium finish of the season at the Australian Grand Prix. Having qualified fifth yesterday, a place ahead of team-mate George Russell, Hamilton produced a steady and consistent display of old as the eight-time constructors’ champions continued their upward trajectory at Albert Park.

Ad/> Russell capitalised on the sudden retirement of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on lap 39 — his second of the season — to finish third overall and take his first podium in Mercedes colours, with Hamilton coming home one place and three seconds further adrift in fourth. Australian Grand Prix'Nice to be back up there' — Hamilton 'positive' ahead of race after nightmare start to season21 HOURS AGO The seven-time world champion admitted after yesterday’s qualifying that it was “nice to be back up there” after being blighted by porpoising issues in recent weeks, including the opening two races of in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Despite their early-season turmoil, Hamilton was pleased with Sunday’s display in Melbourne as he backed up his third-placed finish in Bahrain with another positive outing. “It’s a great result for us as a team, honestly,” he told Sky Sports.

“This weekend, we’ve had so many difficult moments with the car, so to get ourselves fifth and sixth in qualifying, to progress like we have and to have that reliability [feels great]. ‘Scooter for Seb’ — Vettel suffers agonising DNF in Melbourne Ferrari’s Sainz crashes out of Australian Grand Prix ‘Frustrating, unacceptable’ — Verstappen fumes after latest retirement “We definitely didn’t expect to have a third and fourth.