George Russell wasn’t complaining after claiming a “bit lucky” first podium for Mercedes at the Australian Grand Prix.
The Briton benefitted from pitting under the Safety Car to run third but would slip back to fourth when Sergio Perez overtook into Turn 11.
However, Max Verstappen’s second retirement in three races then repromoted Russell back into the podium places where he would finish.
“We’ve got to be in it to win it and capitalise from others’ misfortune and obviously we got a little bit lucky today, probably twice, but we’ll take it,” he said post-race.
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“There is so much hard work going on back at base, back in Brixworth, to try to get us back to the front, so to be standing on the podium is special.”
Sunday was undoubtedly Mercedes’ strongest race of 2022 so far, with Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton able to match Red Bull’s pace for long periods.
And George hopes these unexpected results early on can help keep the team in touch for when they solve their current performance issues.
“This weekend we have been the fifth-fastest team behind McLaren and Alpine but here we are P3, and someone told me I am P2 in the championship. We need to be proud of the position and the performance,” he said.
Proud. ? @GeorgeRussell63 pic.twitter.com/4Rz9PCQ4DB
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 10, 2022
“We are never going to give up. We have got to keep on fighting. We’ve got to keep this up while we’re on the back foot and I’m sure we’ll get there after a few more races.
“I think it’s going to take some time for us to fight these boys in red [Ferrari] and blue [Red Bull] that are pretty exceptional at the moment but if anyone can, Mercedes can, so let’s go for it.”
As for Hamilton, he had to settle for fourth after managing temperatures for much of the race.
“It is a great result for us as a team,” he stated.
This moment. ❤️ One Team. pic.twitter.com/vq25C2KGzJ
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 10, 2022
“Honestly, this weekend we have had so many difficult moments with the car so to get ourselves fifth and sixth in qualifying, to have progressed as we have and to have the reliability, we definitely didn’t expect to have a third and fourth.
“George did a brilliant job today. I saw a bit of the battle of him racing Perez, I wish I could have been in it but nonetheless, we will take these points and keep pushing.”