Lewis Hamilton could hardly believe what he’d heard when he learned of George Russell’s lap time during Australian Grand Prix qualifying.
On Saturday (7 March), Mercedes duo Russell and Kimi Antonelli secured pole and second position on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix.
Englishman Russell finished six-tenths of a second faster than his nearest non-Mercedes competitor, while Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar impressed by finishing third in qualifying.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc secured fourth, with the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and world champion Lando Norris in fifth and sixth respectively.
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Seven-time world champion Hamilton came seventh, with Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and Gabriel Bortoleto making up the top 10 on the grid.
The Ferrari man appeared surprised when he was informed of Russell’s rapid time by Scuderia engineer Carlo Santi via team radio during qualifying.
“We are P2. Russell P1, six tenths ahead,” Santi told Hamilton.
“Where the hell is that six tenths?” the 41-year-old replied.
As previously mentioned, Hamilton wound up finishing seventh but insisted he was not surprised by Mercedes’ pace following the session.
After the final qualifying session, the Brit offered his verdict on his own performance.
“It was not the best qualifying but I’ve felt solid all weekend, feel happy in the car and super motivated,” Hamilton said.
“Up until the end of Q1 it felt great, third or fourth on the medium tyre. In Q2 we had some problems with the engine and deployment, some spanners in the works.
“If we didn’t have an issue, we could have qualified third or fourth. I don’t think we can catch Mercedes.”
When asked if he was surprised by the gap to Mercedes, he replied: “No.”
“What’s clear is that they didn’t show the engine power through any of the practice — all the compression ratio stuff — they’ve done a solid job with their engine,” he added.
“I want to understand… it was two tenths or more just through power in the first sector. If it’s the compression ratio, I want to understand why the FIA haven’t done anything. But if not, then we have to do a better job.”
Australian Grand Prix grid positions
1) George Russell
2) Kimi Antonelli
3) Isack Hadjar
4) Charles Leclerc
5) Oscar Piastri
6) Lando Norris
7) Lewis Hamilton
8) Liam Lawson
9) Arvid Lindblad
10) Gabriel Bortoleto
11) Nico Hulkenberg
12) Ollie Bearman
13) Esteban Ocon
14) Pierre Gasly
15) Alex Albon
16) Franco Colapinto
17) Fernando Alonso
18) Sergio Perez
19) Valtteri Bottas
20) Max Verstappen
21) Carlos Sainz
22) Lance Stroll
Topics: Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Mercedes, Motorsport
Luke Davies