George Russell has admitted that Mercedes’ searing pace in qualifying for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix came as no surprise to the Silver Arrows, but admitted the team did not realise it was “that good”.
Russell and Mercedes have dominated proceedings at Albert Park, setting a searing pace in FP3 in an ominous prelude to qualifying.
The Briton converted this in all three qualifying sessions, finishing fastest, as the true pace of the W17 was unleashed for the field to see.
Russell consistently put over six-tenths of a second between himself and the rest of the field, leaving precious scraps for the rest to pick up.
His final lap of Q3 demonstrated the advantage the Silver Arrows enjoys over the rest of the field, Russell nearly 0.800s clear of the next car.
He was understandably delighted with his efforts in the post-qualifying press conference.
“Yeah, it felt very good, to be honest,” he said of his lap.
“The whole session felt very clean, very tidy, no mistakes, and yeah, just how I wanted to start this weekend really.
“These new cars are very challenging to drive, they’re very difficult to understand, the energy management and all of the other features we’re dealing with.
“But I think we knew as a team, or we thought as a team, we had a really good package beneath us, and it’s been so much hard work from everyone in Brixworth and Brackley to deliver this. But I don’t think we quite thought it was that good. And also, to have Kimi next to me here as well is really great.”
George Russell surprised by gap to rivals
Russell admitted his surprise at the gulf between the Silver Arrows and the chasing pack, highlighting cooler conditions as a factor in their dominance.
However, he called the W17 “amazing”, reaffirming his position as one of the few drivers to enjoy driving the 2026 cars.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said of his surprise at the gap. “I think the conditions also came into our favour. We know we’re better in these cooler conditions and as the track temp dropped, we always seemed to find more lap time.
“But, you know, I think we’ve got a really great engine beneath us. However, I think we’ve also got a really amazing car beneath us, and I think that probably hasn’t been highlighted enough in the press these past few weeks.
“I think the car, from the off, Kimi and I both said it felt great to drive. We’re enjoying the smaller cars, the lighter cars, and yeah, perfect way to start Melbourne.
“Well, the cars are more agile and you’re sort of sliding them around a bit more. It’s easier to lock up and run wide, lose the rear.
“It wasn’t easy conditions out there today, it was quite windy, quite gusty, but I’m enjoying that. It feels more like a go-kart compared to last year. It felt like a bouncing bus, to be honest. It wasn’t as fun to drive.
“So, I think there are lots of mixed views on the new regs as a whole, but I do think the car regulations for everyone are definitely a step forward compared to what we’ve had for the past, what, eight years now.”
READ MORE – George Russell dominates qualifying for F1 Australian GP
Discussion about this post