After the incredible disappointment of Saudi Arabia, in which Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in the first segment of qualifying in Jeddah and could only manage a 10th place finish on Sunday, things went much better for the Briton in Australia, as he managed his race to what was set to be a podium, until an ill-timed Safety Car handed his team-mate George Russell track position, and from there Hamilton couldn’t fight back.

But he was satisfied with the result for the team, and told Sky Sports that while the car hasn’t really improved much, Mercedes maximised what was possible in the current situation:

"It's an amazing result for us as a team," said Hamilton.

"Whilst we haven't necessarily improved the car in these three races, I think we've extracted the most we could have points wise. To come away with this result is great.

"This weekend, we've had so many difficult moments with the car, so to get ourselves fifth and sixth in qualifying and to progress like we have, we definitely didn't expect third and fourth."

Hamilton was unimpressed on the radio during the race after yet another slice of bad luck with Safety Cars, that this time gave his team-mate Russell a big advantage. But Hamilton recognized George had done “an amazing job” and explained why he couldn’t fight back on track:

"I couldn't fight for third because the engine was overheating, so I had to back off," he said, before congratulating Russell.

"It's incredible. He's done an amazing job today, he had great pace. He's been so solid these first three races and he's working and really grafting away. He's doing an amazing job.

"I saw a bit of him racing Perez and I wish I could have been in it, but we'll take these points and keep pushing."

This moment. ❤️ One Team. pic.twitter.com/vq25C2KGzJ

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 10, 2022

After three races, Hamilton has scored 28 points, and is 43 points adrift from championship leader Charles Leclerc. But the Briton is hopeful he and his team can still challenge for the world championship, perhaps counting on a different development rate trend compared to the last few seasons:

"There are 20 races to go," he said. "If you think realistically, with the way the sport goes in the way it's developing, the top teams generally develop at a similar rate.

"Will that be the case with this new car? Who knows. But I'm really really hoping we can get in the fight soon.

"But with every improvement we make, they and Red Bull will probably make the same sort of step, so it's not going to be easy. The gap is pretty big right now but there's a long way to go."