George Russell’s Mercedes in huge fireball during Australian GP

George Russell’s Mercedes set alight during the Australian Grand Prix after the British driver suffered an engine failure. The incident forced the 25-year-old to retire from the race after a miserable afternoon which had also seen him badly lose out as a result of a red flag decision. 

Russell had taken the lead in Albert Park at the first corner, getting past the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in a surprising start. However, his Grand Prix started to fall apart after Alex Albon’s huge crash brought out the safety car with Mercedes taking the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres. 

However, the red flag came out shortly afterwards giving the cars ahead of him a free pit stop. He recovered to fourth but his race was over by lap 18 as an engine failure engulfed his Mercedes in fire. 

The Brit said it was a ‘PU’ issue before quickly getting himself out of the car as marshalls raced to the track with fire extinguishers to safely put the fire out. A short virtual safety car period followed as the W14 was recovered from the race course before on-track action got back underway. 

Russell took to Twitter to voice his disappointment shortly after returning to the garage, in a short message that summed up his situation. 

“When it’s not your day, it’s not your day,” he wrote. 

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