Russell ended up just 0.236s behind Verstappen in Q3 at Albert Park, with his team-mate Lewis Hamilton third in the second Mercedes, a somewhat surprise result for the Black Arrows squad after its difficult start to the new campaign and having been 0.6s off the pace in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Although Verstappen heads into Sunday’s race as the heavy favourite for victory, Russell indicated that after its strong qualifying result, Mercedes’ expectations of a successful race could be altered given the chance to attack the polesitter early-on.
