David Coulthard left unconvinced by what George Russell said about Ferrari after the Australian GP

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Mercedes driver George Russell was the first race winner of the 2026 Formula 1 season, but insisted that Ferrari pushed the Silver Arrows far harder than expected.

George Russell won the Australian Grand Prix by under three seconds from Mercedes teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton occupied third and fourth, but the result looked like it was going to be very different in the opening laps.

Russell and Leclerc exchanged the lead of the race on seven separate occasions in the opening 10 laps, with Hamilton joining the battle before the first virtual safety car came out.

Ferrari’s strategy has been questioned, but George Russell insisted that the Scuderia were far more threatening than their eventual race result suggested.

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David Coulthard unsure about George Russell’s claim that Ferrari could have won the Australian Grand Prix

Russell was joined by David Coulthard after the Australian Grand Prix in a conversation on Channel 4.

Asked to summarise the sixth win of his Formula 1 career, Russell said: “It feels great, honestly. But the race we had today with the Ferrari, that was kind of what we were expecting.

“I think yesterday surprised everyone, but also surprised us. But today, they show their true potential, and they were fast, and without that virtual safety car, I’m not convinced, because I don’t know how far…”

Coulthard then interrupted Russell and said: “Oh, I can see your nose getting longer!”

Russell replied: “We definitely had the pace, no doubt about it. But the overtaking was so challenging, and on this track, all the straights are curves.

“So, you saw drivers sort of moving. 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, first laps of a season. I don’t want to go [too far]. But, yeah, all in all, really great day.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

George Russell addresses how ‘difficult to drive’ Formula 1’s new 2026 cars really are

One of the biggest talking points after the Australian Grand Prix weekend has been about the style of racing in Melbourne.

Although there were far more overtakes than last season, Lando Norris and Leclerc called out how racing now felt ‘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 and 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.

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“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 the 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, removing some of the jeopardy, drivers were also at full throttle for far longer than in Australia.

If management becomes the aim of the game rather than simply being faster than your rivals, then Formula 1 might be creating issues for itself.