Source: Radio New Zealand
Kiwi Liam Lawson trails Mexican Sergio Perez during the Australian Grand Prix. AFP
Kiwi driver Liam Lawson has finished 13th in Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix, after a disastrous start in a race, won by Briton George Russell.
Italian Kimi Antonelli completed a Mercedes quinella in the F1 season-opener, while Charles Leclerc of Montenegro finished third, with Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen next in that order.
In an often chaotic race at Melbourne’s Albert Park, any advantage Lawson had by claiming eighth place on the grid dissipated at the start.
He dropped back to 18th, as he complained on the Racing Bulls team radio of mechanical issues.
“What is my battery doing?,” he exclaimed.
He was able to climb to 13th place, helped by withdrawals during the race, finishing a lap behind Russell.
Before the race, Australian Oscar Piastri crashed on a reconnaisance lap. While not injured, his McLaren was too damaged to take part in the race.
Lawson’s Racing Bulls teammate Arvid Lindblad finished eighth in his F1 debut.
After dominating qualifying, pole-sitter Russell’s first win at Albert Park underlined Mercedes’ promising pre-season form.
The Briton finished nearly three seconds ahead of Antonelli, with Leclerc more than 15 seconds behind on a cloudy afternoon at the lakeside circuit.
Russell engaged in a thrilling early duel with Leclerc, as the racers swapped the lead seven times in the opening nine laps, but Mercedes soon put daylight on the rest.
After swapping out medium tyres early, following a virtual safety-car deployment, Russell rode the hard compounds for 45 laps and Mercedes’ pace did the rest.
“Great job everybody, it’s been a long time since we’ve been here,” he said over the team radio.
McLaren had a tough day, with Piastri’s race over before it began some 40 minutes before the start.
Teammate and defending champion Norris finished fifth, one place behind seven-time world champion Hamilton of Ferrari.
Only 20 of the 22 cars started, with Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg scratched just before the race, due to a reliability problem.
Another three cars failed to finish, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar among them.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
