George Russell sits at the second spot in the drivers championship after he finished first as a Mercedes driver at the Australian Grand Prix.
Russell finished in third ahead of Hamilton at Albert Park, the result coming on the back of fourth and fifth-place finishes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia respectively. And Hamilton said his new teammate had been doing an “amazing job”, both in Australia and more generally in his first races as a Mercedes driver proper.
“It’s incredible, he’s done an amazing job. He did an amazing job today, had great pace, he’s been so solid these first three races. He’s working and really grafting away; he’s doing an amazing job,” Hamilton was quoted as saying by Formula1.com.
“I prefer to stay optimistic. There are 20 races to go. If you think realistically with the way our sport goes in terms of everyone’s development the top teams often develop at a similar pace, a similar rate. Will that be the case with this new car? Who knows, but I am really, really hopeful we can get in the fight soon. And yes, the gap is pretty big right now but there is a long way to go,” he said.
Mercedes finished as the lead constructor in Australia, even though Russell admitted they were the fifth best team most of the race weekend. And ahead of the next race in Imola, Hamilton said the team would “leave no stone unturned” as they plot their route back to the top.
