George Russell makes a strong start with the victory in Melbourne: "A very good start"

The 2026 season is off to the best possible start for George Russell. In Melbourne, the Briton converted the good pace he had shown by Mercedes Benz throughout the weekend, culminating in a victory in the first race of the year, at the end of an Australian Grand Prix marked by numerous retirements and overtakes. However, the victory didn't come easily. Even before the lights went out, Russell encountered an unexpected problem on the grid with a completely dead battery, which complicated his start. Quickly thrown into the fray, the Mercedes driver found himself engaged in an intense battle for the lead, notably against... Charles Leclerc.

Looking back on those particularly eventful early rounds, the Briton emphasized the intensity of the battle. “It’s truly incredible, the battle was very intense at the start of the race! We knew it was going to be difficult; when I arrived on the grid I saw that I had nothing left in the battery, I had a bad start, and then the battles with Charles were really heated! I’m very happy to cross the finish line as the winner. Thank you to the whole team because it’s been a long time since we’ve had such a good car. It’s a very good start.” he explained to the microphone of the Formula 1 upon leaving his car.

During the first part of the race, the leading positions changed regularly, mainly between George Russell and Charles Leclerc. The drivers seemed to struggle to maintain their advantage for several consecutive laps, resulting in numerous overtakes and a very close battle among the contenders for victory.
According to the Mercedes driver, this situation is partly explained by the operation of the aerodynamic mode used on the straights. When activated, the car lost some of its front downforce, making it more difficult to manage and encouraging overtaking.

The British pilot also believes that this point deserves to be studied by the authorities. “I’m happy if people enjoyed the race at home! We suspected it would be a bit of a rollercoaster at the start of the race; as soon as one of us took the lead, it seemed impossible to hold onto it. With the straight-line mode, you lose a lot of front-end grip, which creates a lot of understeer. The FIA ​​will have to improve that because it was really close at times, but we came out unscathed and with the win.”

In any case, Russell leaves the Australian Grand Prix with 25 points for the victory and an ideal start to the season, confirming the progress shown by Mercedes, who also secured a one-two finish thanks to Kimi Antonelli's second place, at the dawn of this new Formula 1 year. Classic Ferrari for sale remains just behind, despite difficulties keeping up with the pace set by the German team at the end of the race.

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