George Russell was on the podium for the first time with Mercedes at the Formula 1 race in Melbourne – But he doesn’t want to be blinded by the result
George Russell was able to dust off a surprising podium for the Mercedes team at the Australian Grand Prix. The Briton benefited from the retirements of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, as well as a safety car period that worked in his favour.
“I’m pleased with the podium, but in the end we got lucky twice today and benefited from other people’s bad luck,” Russell remained realistic. “We’re still slower than Ferrari and Red Bull but you have to be there to pick up the points.”
In the race he was able to fight Sergio Perez at times, but was urged by the team to let the Red Bull driver past and conserve his tyres. “At that point it was down to the final podium spot and I really wanted to leave him behind,” said Russell.
Russell: Mercedes only fifth power in Melbourne
“But we had to concentrate on tyre management because otherwise the tyres would have broken down. Especially in the last corner I had to take care of the tyres, but I didn’t want to do that because otherwise Checo would have had an easy time on the straight with his top speed. In the end, the Red Bulls were just too fast for us. “
Russell thinks the Mercedes was at best the fifth fastest car in Melbourne behind McLaren and Alpine. “When you think about that, it’s pretty crazy that I’m on the podium today and second in the drivers’ world championship,” he says.
Russell won’t be blinded by that, however: “I wish I could say we’ve made a lot of progress, but if you look at the lap times, the gap to the others hasn’t exactly narrowed. “
Russell: No major upgrades planned at the moment
At the moment, he said, they were only in this position because of hard work in the factory and reliability. “We have always managed to optimise our lack of pace so far. I really don’t think in a single race we could have had a better result,” said Russell.
The W13 is showing great potential in simulations, according to Russell, but it will take the team some time to fully exploit it. “It won’t happen overnight or at the next race, but I think we’ll get there in time,” the Briton is optimistic.
Until that happens, however, Russell says the Mercedes race team will have to continue to pick up points like they did in the first three races of the season to stay “in the mix”, as no major upgrades are currently planned.
Russell: Currently no matter who is in front at Mercedes
Although he got his first Mercedes podium out of the way and beat teammate Lewis Hamilton twice in the opening races, Russell still wants to keep his head down: “These little things don’t mean much in the big picture.”
“Lewis and I have no interest in fighting each other for fifth and sixth place. Now it’s about closing the gap, which is why there are no bad feelings should I or he be in front,” he says.
Russell says the current situation at Mercedes is a complete contrast for him to the last three years at Williams. “It’s a strange feeling because the demand is so high and you have to think of the bigger picture. In previous years it was just a satisfaction to beat your teammate because we weren’t fighting for much,” Russell explains.
