George Russell 'excited' as astonishing Mercedes pace finally realised

George Russell has voiced his desire to get racing after seeing Mercedes' true potential at the Australian Grand Prix.

Russell looked in control all through Saturday as he set an impressive gap over the competition at the end of final practice.

The Briton maintained that strong form into qualifying to lay down a 1:18.518 - going three-tenths faster than team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

It marks the eighth pole of Russell's F1 career as he goes in search of his sixth grand prix win on Sunday.

“It was a great day, we knew there was a lot of potential in the car, but until we get to this first Saturday of the season, you never know,” Russell said. 

“But it really came alive this afternoon, especially when the track temperatures cooled, we know we tend to favour those conditions.

“I'm excited for the race tomorrow, and I think it can bring some quite exciting racing.”

Russell also took pride in having Antonelli alongside him on the front row and commended the Mercedes mechanics for repairing his car after his FP3 crash.

“Also really happy to have Kimi here next to me as well, because it's been such a hard job from all the team to deliver this car,” he said. 

“They did an amazing job in the garage as well today. So all in all, really good day.”

Despite Mercedes' strong advantage over the field, Russell insists Sunday's grand prix will be full of challenges.

“A lot of the simple things that were in the past, like race starts, pit stops, are a hell of a lot more challenging with these new cars,” he stated. 

“I said to a team in the garage at the beginning of Q3, 'let's just have a clean session', because who knows what's going to happen tomorrow.

“Obviously, we will try and work hard tonight, obviously a really great day. We're in the best place possible.”