Formula 1

George Russell on pole position for Australian GP

Fraser Masefield
7 months ago
4 min read

George Russell put in a workmanlike performance to secure pole position for the season opening Australian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen crashed out of qualifying.

The Englishman put in a fastest lap time of 1m18.518s to better Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli by .293s with the Red Bull of Isak Hadjar lining up third on the grid ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Australian Grand Prix, Saturday, Steve Etherington

Lewis Hamilton starts Sunday’s race from seventh on the grid with Liam Lawson, debutant Arvid Lindblad and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the top ten.

“Everything came together well today, and the team did an amazing job,” said Russell on the official Mercedes press release.

“They got the car into a good place, and we know that we’ve historically been quick in cooler conditions.

“Everything fell our way and we were able to convert that into pole. Equally, we know that the advantage we had today is not the true gap to our competitors.

“The team at Brackley and Brixworth have provided us with a really strong platform to build on but, if we want to win this championship, we will need to improve the car in several areas.

“This is only the first Qualifying session of the first race, and everyone is still on zero points.”

It remains to be seen just how much of an advantage Mercedes have over the field and how much of a difference man over machine will make.

That was further compounded because Verstappen, who so often makes that key difference, uncharacteristically crashing out on his first flying lap.

“I’ve never experienced something like that before in my career,” Verstappen is quoted on the official F1 website. “The rear axle just completely locked on, then of course you can’t save that anymore at that speed.

“The barrier hit was not that bad – the wheel just snapped out of my hands and that’s why I had to go to the medical centre, but all good.”


With sweeping regulation changes in force for the 2026 Formula One season, few knew how the first race weekend would play out.

But certain indicators during pre-season Bahrain testing pointed to Mercedes being ahead of the competition, with engine compression ratios at the forefront of many tech discussions.

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That’s no fault of Russell, however, and regardless of the talk in the paddock over the legality of Mercedes’ engine the driver still has to deliver the goods.

And Russell has proven time again that he is a champion in the making.

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“We will do our best to convert P1 and P2 into a strong result tomorrow,” added Russell.

“It will be a long afternoon, and we will see what challenges get thrown our way.

“We had good long run pace on Friday, but we need to execute well if we want to fight for victory. Let’s see what we can do.”

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Fraser Masefield

Fraser is a sports and motorsports editor with over 25 years experience. The former head editor of WilliamsF1, BMW Motorsport, Jaguar Racing and Virgin Media, he has also worked for Autosport, ESPNF1 and Eurosport amongst others.

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