Martin Brundle praises George Russell’s ‘classy, fault-free driving’ in battle with Lewis Hamilton

Russell secured his first podium finish as a Mercedes driver in Melbourne

George Russell finished third at the Australian Grand Prix (Getty Images)

Martin Brundle has praised George Russell for his “classy” and “fault-free” early season performances after the Mercedes driver climbed to second in the Drivers’ Championship standings.

Russell secured his first podium at Mercedes at the Australian Grand Prix, beating teammate Lewis Hamilton to third after a timely pit stop during a safety car enabled him to gain race position.

The 24-year-old has finished in the top five at each of the three races to start the season despite significant performance issues for the German outfit.

The British driver arrived to partner compatriot Hamilton at the start of the season from Williams, and has thus far out-performed the seven-time world champion.

Former Formula 1 driver Brundle believes that, even if there was an element of fortune to Russell’s result in Melbourne, the Mercedes man deserves credit for his start to the 2022 season.

“George Russell got lucky with the safety car [during the Australian Grand Prix] but you need to be competitive before and after that to benefit and he certainly was,” Brundle Sky Sports.

“He doesn’t appear to be struggling to keep with Lewis in qualifying or race trim and that’s impressive against the great man. George is second in the Drivers’ Championship due to classy, fault-free driving and reliability. Now he needs the car performance to take a decent step forward in a hurry.”

Russell trails runaway early leader Charles Leclerc by 34 points after the Ferrari driver claimed his second race victory of the season with a fine display at the Albert Park Circuit.

The next race weekend is at the Italian team’s home circuit in Imola, where Leclerc will be optimistic he can again swell his lead.

Brundle believes that the off-season overhaul of car design regulations particularly suit the Monegasque driver.

“Ferrari and Charles Leclerc have really aced these new for 2022 F1 cars,” Brundle wrote. “The Ferrari F1-75 is a benign and very fast car, suitable for every circuit so far including Barcelona, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the revised Melbourne layout.

“Leclerc has stepped up to a higher plane, delivering speed with consistency and seemingly always a half a step ahead of this car, rather than close to the edge of the car’s limit and the occasional heavy shunt as we’ve seen in the past. The new regulations suit him and he’s developed confidence and increased self-belief.

“Two pole positions, two wins, a second, and three fastest laps in three races rather confirms that.”