F1 | Australian GP | Russell after his first Mercedes podium: "We are Mercedes and we have to keep fighting"
After the race, George Russell opened up on Mercedes situation compared to Ferrari and Red Bull and on his first podium with the German team.
A third position and a podium that smells like a victory for Mercedes, which has not shown excellent performances since the beginning of this F1 2022 season. The problems that the German team is having are no secret, Toto Wolff has clearly expressed the need to find effective solutions as quickly as possible, but this podium is certainly a breath of fresh air for the silver arrows.
After Lewis Hamiton's podium in Bahrain, today at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia, it was George Russell who celebrated with Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez. This is the second podium of the young Brit - but the first "real" one - because the other was conquered during last year's controversial "race" in Spa - which took place for only three laps under the safety car, due to dangerous weather conditions.
Surely benefitting from the Safety Car and Max Verstappen's DNF contributed to Russell achieving the third position, but the 24-year-old can still boast of being in second place in the drivers' standings.
DRIVER STANDINGS 📊@Charles_Leclerc increases his championship lead to a larger margin than anyone did in 2021! 🤩
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 10, 2022
And, @GeorgeRussell63 makes a move into P2 👀#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/uKUgMpR1UT
After the race George Russell commented Mercedes situation, compared to Red Bull and Ferrari.
"I think it takes some time to get back to whoever is in red and blue, but we are Mercedes and we have to keep fighting."
"We have to be in it to win it and capitalise from others misfortune. We got a little bit lucky today, probably twice but we'll take it! There's so much hard work going on at base to get us back at the front, to be standing on the podium is special. We never give up, we keep on fighting," Russell said during the post-race interview.
"We were a long way behind our rivals this weekend but here we are on the podium. We have to keep this up whilst on the back foot. I think it will take time until we can fight these boys in blue and red but if anyone can, Mercedes can," he concluded.
A first Mercedes podium! 👏👏 Just the beginning for George. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/yeRn2ujkEH
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 10, 2022
