Russell wins first race of new F1 era in Australia

George Russell took a comfortable victory in the Australian Grand Prix at the start of a new era of Formula 1 after a brief early scrap with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Russell and Leclerc staged a close fight for the first 10 laps with frequent lead changes before Ferrari's decision to stay out during a virtual safety car period took them out of contention for the win.

The Briton led home team-mate Kimi Antonelli while Leclerc had to be satisfied with the final podium position ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

"I'm feeling incredible, it was a hell of a fight at the beginning. We knew it was going to be challenging and I got on the grid and I saw my battery level had nothing in the tank," said Russell.

"I made a bad start and obviously some really tight battles with Charles, so I was really glad to cross the finish line."

McLaren's world champion Lando Norris finished fifth, fending off a challenge in the closing laps from Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who recovered from 20th on the grid to finish sixth.

Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri crashed on his way to the grid of his home race, losing control over a kerb and getting a spike of unexpected power to spin into the wall.

Arvid Lindblad, 18, became the youngest Briton to race in F1 and impressed on his debut to take eighth behind countryman Oliver Bearman in the Haas.

The key stories of a race that faded in interest after early excitement were:

Russell's pole position - 0.8 seconds clear of the fastest non-Mercedes car - had sent shockwaves through the paddock on Saturday but the race was initially much closer than qualifying.

Both Ferrari drivers made their expected electric starts, and Leclerc vaulted from fourth on the grid to take the lead at the first corner.

Russell powered past the Ferrari on lap two between Turns 10 and 11 by using extra electrical energy.

But Leclerc was not to go down without a fight and drove past the Mercedes in a similar fashion on the run to Turn Nine on lap three.

Russell tracked Leclerc closely. He challenged for the lead into Turn One on lap nine only for the Ferrari driver to fend him off and leave Russell to fight to retain his position from Hamilton, who by now had joined the leading train of cars.

Antonelli, who had dropped to seventh at the start before fighting back past Norris, Lindblad and Isack Hadjar's Red Bull, then joined them to make it four cars in the leading group after 10 laps, and they circulated together until Hadjar retired on lap 12.

The Frenchman, who had been running fifth, pulled off on the back straight, bringing out the virtual safety car, usually the trigger for teams to pit and benefit from the reduced time loss compared with pitting under racing conditions.

But while Russell and Antonelli pitted, Leclerc and Hamilton did not. Hamilton immediately questioned the call, saying over the radio: "At least one of us should have pitted."

Instead, they ran long, sticking to their pre-race plan of a one-stop strategy.

By the time Leclerc pitted on lap 25, Russell was only five seconds behind him, and the Ferrari emerged 14 seconds adrift of the lead.

On fresher tyres, Leclerc might have been expected to narrow the gap to Russell, but he did not, and the fight at the front was over.

When the virtual safety car was called, Leclerc was approaching the pit lane entry. There was just about time to call him in had the team reacted quickly - as they arguably should have been prepared to do with Hadjar's car where it was.

Stopping Hamilton would have been more comfortable, but they chose not do that either. They could have stopped the next time around, with the VSC still operating, but again both Ferraris stayed out.

Perhaps the team felt Mercedes would struggle to make it to the end with a single stop, but in the end it was no problem, and there will be questions as to whether Ferrari should have committed to staying in the lead fight given how they seemed able to match Mercedes at the time.

Leclerc said he did not think they could have won and that third was the best he could have done.

But while he made no ground on either Mercedes, nor did he lose significant ground, so there are indications Ferrari can challenge Mercedes in coming races.

Hamilton, who stopped three laps later than Leclerc after demanding the team leave him out for a while, challenged his team-mate in the closing stages.

The swapping of positions between Leclerc and Russell in the early laps looked exciting on the surface.

The overtakes were not in the traditional sense - of a driver diving down the inside into a corner by braking later than his rival, or gaining by exiting the previous one faster.

Instead, they were using the new "boost" and "overtake" modes, giving more electrical energy for short periods.

The place-swapping and close racing was a consequence of one boosting while the other was recharging his battery pack having previously boosted.

It also made it hard for one of them to break away, as well as compromising their overall pace. It was, according to Ferrari team boss Frederic Vassuer, "a good start" but it remains to be seen what F1's audience will make of it as the season develops.

The drivers have questioned the new regulations, and the sport's bosses will let the first three races play out before deciding whether to tinker with the rules to try to make the cars less energy starved, and reduce what many consider to be over-involvement of electronics and energy management.

The gap between the top four and the rest was enormous - Norris finished 35 seconds behind Hamilton - but Verstappen's potential is unclear after he crashed in qualifying.

The four-time champion started on hard tyres on an off-set strategy. He stayed out for Hadjar's VSC but pitted under a second when Valtteri Bottas' Cadillac conked out in the pit lane entry on lap 17.

Fitting medium tyres meant he was always likely to stop again, and compromised his race just as much as had the crash in qualifying. He will have a chance to show his potential in China next weekend.

Lindblad raced impressively after a strong weekend all round and made a promising start to his F1 career.

From eighth on the grid, he passed Norris and Hamilton on the first lap and briefly held third place on the opening lap, although the seven-time champion quickly got back past.

Lindblad lost out to Bearman in the second half of the race and had to fight off a challenge from Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi in the final two laps but managed to hold on to score points on his debut. Alpine's Pierre Gasly took the final point in 10th.

Fernando Alonso was among the six retirements in the Aston Martin. He made a rocket start to run 10th briefly from 17th, but soon began to fall back as the car's lack of pace showed.

He was pulled into the pits when the team spotted a problem mid-race, sent out again 10 laps later to collect more data, and then called in again.

Team-mate Lance Stroll was also in and out of the pits but did at least finish the race, albeit in in last place and 15 laps behind.

Sergio Perez made it to the finish in Cadillac's first F1 race in 16th, three laps down.

1. George Russell (Mercedes)

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

5. Lando Norris (McLaren)

6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

7. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

8. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

9. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

F1 immediately moves on to China for the second race of the season, at the Shanghai International Circuit next weekend. It's also a sprint event, so the shorter race on the Saturday could deliver all-out action.