David Coulthard not convinced by George Russell’s Ferrari comments after Australian Grand Prix

George Russell opened the 2026 Formula 1 season with a win, but said Ferrari gave Mercedes a tougher challenge than the final result showed.

Russell finished just under three seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the Australian Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were third and fourth, but that wasn’t how things looked early on.

Russell and Leclerc swapped the lead seven times in the first 10 laps, with Hamilton also getting involved before the first virtual safety car period.

Ferrari’s approach has come under scrutiny, but Russell felt they were a much bigger threat than their finishing positions indicated.

Russell spoke with David Coulthard on Channel 4 after the race, reflecting on his sixth career victory.

“It feels great, honestly. But the race we had today with the Ferrari , that was kind of what we were expecting,” Russell said. “I think yesterday surprised everyone, but also surprised us. But today, they show their true potential, and they were fast.”

He continued: “And without that virtual safety car, I’m not convinced [ Mercedes would have won], because I don’t know how far…” before being cut off by Coulthard, who said: “Oh, I can see your nose getting longer!”

Russell responded: “We definitely had the pace today, no doubt about it. But the overtaking was so challenging.

“On this track all of the straights are curves. So you saw drivers sort of moving and I was probably not aggressive enough with Charles .

“Like I could have been elbows out a bit more but I thought it’s race one and first laps of a season so I don’t want to go [too far].

The style of racing in Melbourne was a major talking point following the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

While there were more overtakes than last season, Lando Norris and Leclerc both felt that the racing had become somewhat ‘artificial’.

Battery management has arguably become a driver’s most important skill, and when Russell was asked about how the battle with Leclerc felt at the start of the race, he said: “Honestly, it’s exactly as we thought. And that’s why, like, pre-season, people are, I’m being politically correct or whatever, just give it a shot before slagging it off and make your conclusions afterwards.

“Is it complicated? Yes. Is it difficult to drive? Yes. But races like this were always the potential, and that might not be the most fun for us, but honestly when you have the best cars for drivers or no tyre deg all fans moan the races are boring. So you can’t have it all.”

Although Russell makes a valid point about a lack of tyre degradation making many races one-stoppers last year and removing some of the jeopardy drivers were also at full throttle for far longer than in Australia.

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