Britain’s George Russell described his position in the drivers’ championship standings as “crazy” after moving into second place with his podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix.
This year’s Mercedes has lacked the outright pace of the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull over the first three races of the season as the team battles performance problems – most notably rapid bouncing at high speed.
But reliability issues for Red Bull and Carlos Sainz’s retirement for Ferrari in Melbourne have played into the hands of Mercedes, who have brought both cars home at every race.
“It doesn’t matter how fast the car is, if you don’t make it to the end then you are not there to pick up the pieces,” said Russell, who has 37 points from three races, 34 behind championship leader Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc claimed a dominant win in Melbourne for Ferrari – his second in three races – while title rival Max Verstappen failed to finish for a second time this season when he pulled his smoking Red Bull off track at two-thirds distance.
“It is just crazy to think [I am second in the championship]. Someone told me and I didn’t believe them,” added Russell, who finished fourth at the season-opener in Bahrain and fifth in the last race in Saudi Arabia.
“We were probably the fifth-fastest team behind McLaren and Alpine yet here we are in third place.
“It is a championship based on results not pace. But we know if we want to keep that position we need to find more performance in the car.”
Lewis Hamilton followed three seconds behind his team-mate in fourth to push Mercedes up to second in the constructors’ championship – in between leaders Ferrari and Red Bull.
Hamilton had been set to finish ahead of his team-mate after moving up to third following a strong start, but he lost out when Russell was able to take his pit stop during a safety car period.
The seven-time champion seemingly took his frustrations out on the team radio, saying he had been put in a “very difficult position”, but later said that was in reference to an engine issue.
“We definitely didn’t expect to be third and fourth. George did a great job today,” said Hamilton. “We’ll take these points and keep pushing.
“While we haven’t improved the car, we’ve extracted the most from the car so to come away with the result is great.
“I am really hopeful we can get in the fight but with every bit of improvement we make, Red Bull and Ferrari will probably make a similar step. So it will not be easy. The gap is really big but there is a long way to go.”
Behind the Mercedes pair, McLaren’s Lando Norris edged out team-mate and home favourite Daniel Ricciardo to take fifth place and make it three British drivers in the top five for the first time since the 1999 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
On that occasion, at a race famous for a leg-breaking accident suffered by Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard won for McLaren ahead of Eddie Irvine’s Ferrari in second, while 1996 world champion Damon Hill’s Jordan came home in fifth.
Albon produces stunning drive to take 10th place
A solid day for the Britons was backed up by British-born Alex Albon’s extraordinary drive to bring home his Williams in 10th place.
Imperious race winner Leclerc may have earned the majority of the plaudits, but Albon’s rise from 20th on the grid made him a worthy candidate for driver of the day.
The Thai-British driver had started last after he was disqualified from qualifying when his car lacked sufficient fuel to provide a sample in scrutineering.
His team elected to run as far as possible after starting on the very durable hard tyres, allowing him to pound around for 57 laps during which he climbed as high as seventh thanks to the stops of others, as well as safety car periods.
“We fought hard,” said Albon, who finally came in for his mandatory stop on the penultimate lap, dropping him to the final points-paying position.
“It was like qualifying for 30 laps. I don’t know what it is with the hard tyre but it suits us every time we put it on.
“Tenth to us seems unimaginable.”
