F1 News
'Impressive that Russell has no trouble keeping up with Hamilton'
- GPblog.com
After the Australian Grand Prix, the cards seem to have been shuffled somewhat differently again. Whereas in the first two races a clear ranking had emerged, the Mercedes teams in particular did much better in Melbourne than in the previous races.
Step forward for Mercedes
Mercedes, McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams struggled in the first two races of 2022 to compete from the front with the new generation of cars. People were quick to look at the German racing stable's engine, but in Melbourne, with the exception of Aston Martin, most Mercedes-powered teams fared much better.
''The Mercedes team and the Mercedes-powered McLarens looked much stronger although despite two safety cars closing the pack and just Leclerc cruising out front, the Mercs still finished 25 seconds behind, and the McLaren duo a closely fought 53 seconds adrift. There's a long way to go to catch up'', says Martin Brundle in his column for Sky Sports.
Russell impresses
Mercedes is mainly benefiting from Red Bull Racing 's mistakes at the moment and is therefore in second place among the constructors. George Russell also has an important part to play in this, as he has managed to finish in a good spot on three occasions, finished on the podium in Australia and has now sneaked up to second place in the standings.
It doesn't show the true proportions in terms of performance, but Mercedes is reliable. ''He (Russell) doesn't appear to be struggling to keep with Lewis in qualifying or race trim and that's impressive against the great man. George is second in the drivers' championship due to classy fault free driving and reliability. Now he needs the car performance to take a decent step forward in a hurry,'' said the former F1 driver.