Former Wisbech student outdrives World Champion

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 10: George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes waves to the crowd on the drivers parade ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on April 10, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia.

Russell steered his Mercedes to third behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Russell’s Mercedes teammate and multiple world champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, although both were helped by the retirement of reigning champion Max Verstappen who dropped out of the race when second.

Remarkably given the tribulations suffered by Mercedes this season Russell is now second in the Drivers Championship behind clear leader Le Clerc.

Russell did finish second in the Belgian Grand Prix last year when driving a Williams, but that was a ‘race’ of just two laps behind a safety car after heavy rain meant it wasn’t safe to race competitively.

Russell said: "There is so much hard work going on back at base to try to get us back to the front, so to stand on the podium is special.”