<\/p>\nListen to this article<\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span>4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<\/button>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Mercedes driver George Russell has struck the first blow in the Formula One \u2060championship by claiming an emphatic \u2060victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli, crushing an early challenge from Ferrari.<\/p>\n<p>Having dominated qualifying, pole-sitter Russell\u2019s first win at Albert Park on Sunday confirmed Mercedes\u2019s preseason form while giving the team their first Melbourne victory since Valtteri \u2060Bottas in 2019.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cI like this car. I like this engine. Great job,\u201d Russell said over the team radio after crossing the chequered flag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreat job, everybody. It\u2019s been a long time. It\u2019s been a long time coming to have this car beneath us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Profiting from an early change of tyres, the British driver finished nearly three seconds before Italian Antonelli with Ferrari\u2019s \u2060third-placed Charles Leclerc more than 15 seconds adrift after his team\u2019s tyre strategy failed.<\/p>\n<p>It was a tough day for McLaren with home hero Oscar Piastri\u2019s race over before it began with a crash during a reconnaissance lap about 40 minutes before the start.<\/p>\n<p>His teammate and defending champion Lando Norris finished fifth, one place behind the Ferrari of seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton \u2013 but more than 50 seconds after Russell crossed.<\/p>\n<p>Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was sixth for Red Bull after starting 20th on the grid following a \u200ccrash in Saturday\u2019s qualifying. His teammate Isack Hadjar suffered an early retirement.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4377900\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4377900\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4377900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AFP__20260308__A2DY8ZC__v1__MidRes__AutoPrixF1AusPodium-1772974977.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\" alt=\"First-placed Mercedes' British driver George Russell (2nd R) celebrates on the podium next to second-placed Mercedes' Italian driver Kimi Antonelli (L) with Hywel Thomas (2nd L), managing director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, and third-placed Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (R) after the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 8, 2026. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST \/ AFP) \/ -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE --\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4377900\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Mercedes team, from left, Kimi Antonelli of Italy, Managing Director Hywel Thomas and British driver George Russell celebrate on the podium next to third-placed Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc [William West\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"hell-of-a-fight\">\u2018Hell of a fight\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Russell engaged in a thrilling early duel with Leclerc, the pair swapping the lead seven times in the opening nine laps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a hell of a fight at the beginning,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI made a bad start and some really tight battles with Charles at the start \u2013 just really glad to cross the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was ultimately daylight between Mercedes and the rest with Hadjar\u2019s retirement the turning point. His Red Bull car stopped on lap 12 with smoke billowing out of the rear, triggering a virtual safety car.<\/p>\n<p>Mercedes called both their drivers into pit, swapping out medium tyres for hard compounds, and they rode them for the final 45 laps without issue.<\/p>\n<p>Ferrari stayed out, much to \u2060the chagrin of Hamilton, who complained that at least one of the team\u2019s drivers should have gone in.<\/p>\n<p>Leclerc was far from persuaded that \u2060Ferrari could have come out on top even had they taken an earlier stop.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was happy to get out of the battle in first, but it didn\u2019t help us later on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think we could have won.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4377898\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4377898\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4377898\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/AFP__20260308__A2DV9AK__v1__MidRes__AutoPrixF1Aus-1772974975.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\" alt=\"Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc (L) and Mercedes' British driver George Russell drive during the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 8, 2026. (Photo by Paul Crock \/ AFP) \/ -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE --\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4377898\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ferrari\u2019s Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc, left, and Mercedes\u2019s British driver George Russell fight for the lead during the Australian Grand Prix on March 8, 2026 [Paul Crock\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"ferrari-sandwich\">Ferrari sandwich<\/h2>\n<p>Fourth on the grid, Leclerc had a terrific start, sneaking through a tight gap between Hadjar and Russell to snatch the lead at the first corner.<\/p>\n<p>With \u2060Piastri out of the race, Hamilton had a clear run in front of him and was soon up from seventh to third, leaving Russell in a Ferrari sandwich.<\/p>\n<p>Furious racing ensued as Leclerc and Russell fought wheel-to-wheel, and Russell nearly came unstuck \u2060when he locked up during one skirmish on lap nine.<\/p>\n<p>While the Mercedes cars pitted early, Leclerc finally \u2060came in on lap 26, and Hamilton followed a couple of laps later after surrendering the lead to Russell.<\/p>\n<p>Out in front with teammate Antonelli one behind, Russell was confident one stop would be enough, and so it proved as they burned away from the Ferraris for a thumping win.<\/p>\n<p>Haas\u2019s Oliver Bearman finished seventh, the best placing of the minor teams, while 18-year-old rookie Arvid Lindblad, the youngest-ever British \u200cF1 racer, came in eighth, celebrating points in his debut race for Racing Bulls.<\/p>\n<p>Ninth-placed Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine\u2019s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.<\/p>\n<p>New team Cadillac had an underwhelming race debut in Formula One with Bottas retiring early and teammate Sergio Perez finishing 16th, the last of the classified results.<\/p>\n<p>Struggling Aston Martin \u200csaw \u200ctwo-time world champion Fernando Alonso retire after 21 laps and a long period in the garage.<\/p>\n<p>His teammate Lance Stroll managed 43 laps and held on to the finish, but the result was not classified.<\/p>\n<p>Only 20 of the 22 cars started with Audi\u2019s Nico Hulkenberg scratched just before the race due to a reliability problem.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info Mercedes driver George Russell has struck the first blow in the Formula One \u2060championship by claiming an emphatic \u2060victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli, crushing an early challenge from Ferrari. Having dominated qualifying, pole-sitter Russell\u2019s first win at Albert Park on Sunday confirmed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}