Australian GP: George Russell wins the opening race after a duel with Ferrari

George Russell kicked off the new era of Formula 1 in style, winning with a clear margin after battling the Ferrari drivers.

Photo: Anni Graf

Formula 1 officially entered its new era of technical regulations today — and where else could it begin but in Australia. After pre-season testing, Mercedes were the clear favourites, and that prediction proved to be accurate. In Friday’s practice sessions they were still hiding their true pace, but after qualifying almost everyone was stunned by how comfortably Mercedes, thanks to George Russell, secured pole position. The gap between Russell in first and Hadjar in third was an incredible eight tenths of a second.

Another surprise came with Max Verstappen’s crash right at the start of qualifying. On the entry to the first corner, his rear wheels locked due to a software issue with the energy recovery system, which caused the rear axle to lock, leading to a spin and a subsequent crash.

As a result, Mercedes started the race with both of their cars on the front row. Behind them was the already mentioned Hadjar in third place, joined on the second row by Charles Leclerc. The third row was occupied by the two McLaren drivers.

Before the race even began, however, we witnessed an unfortunate moment. Home driver Oscar Piastri lost control of his car on the exit of Turn 4, spun, and crashed into the barrier, which meant an early end to his Grand Prix.

The start of the race itself was incident-free. However, the lights went out much faster than drivers are normally used to, which Ferrari took advantage of. As expected, they had a rocket start, and Leclerc moved from fourth place into the lead of the race in the first corner.

The early stages of the race were marked by a battle between Ferrari and George Russell, which only ended when the first Virtual Safety Car was deployed due to Isack Hadjar. He had to stop his car by the side of the track due to technical problems and retired from the race. Many drivers used the Virtual Safety Car period to make pit stops. Ferrari, however, decided to stay out — a decision that in hindsight may have been a mistake that potentially cost them the victory.

Photo: Anni Graf

Another Virtual Safety Car came on lap 18 after Valtteri Bottas had to stop his Cadillac at the pit entry, also due to technical issues. And once again Ferrari did not take advantage of the situation for pit stops, mainly because the FIA decided to close the pit entry due to Bottas’ stranded car. Their first stops came only on lap 26, when Leclerc pitted first, while Hamilton changed his tyres on lap 29.

Meanwhile, Russell maintained the race lead and held onto it until the finish. It was a dream start to the season for Mercedes, as Kimi Antonelli finished second, securing a one-two finish for the team. Charles Leclerc completed the podium in third place.

Max Verstappen, who started from the back of the grid, managed to fight his way into the top ten — finishing in sixth place — which earned him the title of Driver of the Day. Another standout performance came from rookie Arvid Lindblad. The 18-year-old Racing Bulls driver scored points on his debut by finishing in an impressive eighth place.

The Formula 1 circus will move to China next week, where the first sprint race of the season will take place.

RESULTS: