George Russell won a dramatic season-opening Australian Grand Prix, leading a Mercedes 1-2 ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished third

MELBOURNE: George Russell secured victory in a chaotic season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. The Mercedes driver led a team one-two finish ahead of rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completing the podium.

The pole-sitting Briton took the chequered flag by 2.974 seconds at Albert Park. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth for Ferrari in a race that severely tested Formula One’s new-generation cars under competitive conditions for the first time.

World champion Lando Norris came home a distant fifth in his McLaren. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen produced a sensational drive to finish sixth after starting from 20th on the grid following a qualifying crash.

Home hero Oscar Piastri suffered disaster, crashing on his out-lap to the grid. The McLaren driver failed to start the race due to major damage sustained in the incident.

With the virtual safety car deployed repeatedly, Russell maintained his composure to claim a sixth career Grand Prix win. It marked his first victory since the Singapore Grand Prix last year.

“Feeling incredible. It was a hell of a fight in the beginning,” said Russell. “We knew it was going to be challenging. I made a bad start and some really tight battles with Charles at the start.”

The race introduced new technical regulations where half of every power unit is now a battery. Drivers were forced to recharge while braking or by lifting off the throttle to avoid complete battery drain.

Melbourne’s 58-lap circuit posed a particular challenge with its long, sweeping straights that deplete battery charge. The track offers relatively few twisty turns where drivers can brake and regenerate energy.

Five cars failed to finish as teams grappled with the new technical demands. The retirees included Piastri, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Antonelli recovered strongly after a heavy crash in Saturday practice required a major car rebuild. “Was not the best start we could have wished for, lost a lot of places and I had to recover,” said the Italian. “But overall was a good race, the pace was really strong especially at the end.”

Haas driver Ollie Bearman finished seventh, with rookie Arvid Lindblad eighth for Racing Bull. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the points-paying positions in ninth and tenth respectively.

Leclerc acknowledged the challenging conditions and Mercedes’ superior pace. “It was a very, very tricky race. None of us knew what to expect,” said the Monegasque driver. “It has been quite challenging. It looked like Mercedes had a bit more pace than us today.”

The race began dramatically as Leclerc, starting on medium tyres, jumped ahead of Russell at lights out. Antonelli, who qualified second, slipped down to seventh position in the opening exchanges.

Hamilton also made a strong start for Ferrari, surging up to third place ahead of Hadjar. Russell immediately fought back, reclaiming the lead from Leclerc on the second lap.

Leclerc responded a lap later to retake first position. The leading trio of Leclerc, Russell and Hamilton then began to pull clear from the rest of the field.

A thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle developed at the front, with the lead changing hands three times on the eighth lap alone. Russell and Leclerc fiercely contested supremacy during the opening phase.

The first virtual safety car period was triggered on lap 12 when Hadjar’s Red Bull stopped on track. Russell and Antonelli both pitted during this phase, returning to the circuit on hard compound tyres.

Leclerc and Hamilton opted to stay out, emerging with a ten-second lead over Russell when racing resumed. Lindblad, Antonelli and Verstappen completed the top six at this stage.

Another virtual safety car was deployed when Bottas retired his Cadillac. When the race restarted, Russell trailed the leading Ferraris by eight seconds.

With his tyres beginning to wear, Leclerc made his pit stop on lap 26. Hamilton stayed out longer but was passed by Russell before eventually making his own stop.

Russell radioed his team that he believed a one-stop strategy was viable. He began to pull clear from the field, with Antonelli moving up to second position.

The Ferraris found themselves 15 seconds behind the leading Mercedes and could not significantly close the gap during the race’s second half. The Formula One season now moves to China next weekend before heading to Japan.

Rounds four and five are currently scheduled for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. These events remain under threat due to the ongoing war in Iran.

 The Sun Malaysia