George Russell celebrated an "incredible" victory to start the 2026 Formula One season, as Mercedes got off to a flyer.

Mercedes sealed a one-two at the Australian Grand Prix, with Russell converting pole position into a race win, while Kimi Antonelli finished second.

The Silver Arrows have stood out in pre-season, with plenty of other teams struggling to adapt to the new regulations.

Russell had to tussle with Charles Leclerc for the first 10 laps, but the Ferrari driver could not keep the pace after his team instructed him to stay out behind a virtual safety car. 

"I'm feeling incredible, it was a hell of a fight at the beginning," Russell said.

"We knew it was going to be challenging and I got on the grid and I saw my battery level had nothing in the tank.

"I made a bad start and obviously some really tight battles with Charles, so I was really glad to cross the finish line.

"Thank you so much for the whole team, it's been a long time coming, to have this car beneath us."

Celebrating George and Kimi’s first 1-2 together with the Team pic.twitter.com/5K4AhW6PaR

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 8, 2026

Antonelli added: "It was the best start [to the season] we could have wished for.

"Unfortunately, the start [of the race] was really bad, lost a lot of places. I found myself having to recover. But overall, it was a good race. The pace was really strong, especially at the end.

"The racing was incredible. The first few laps, with the overtake, is so powerful that it can give a lot of action. It was really good fun at the beginning and now, a bit of a rest and looking forward to China."

For his part, Leclerc did not feel Ferrari had a realistic shot of bettering the Mercedes duo.

"I don't think so, but maybe I'm wrong," said Leclerc, who took third, just ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

"It looked like Mercedes maybe had a bit more pace than us today, but maybe not as much as we saw yesterday, so that's a good thing, but I don't think we could have won."

Hamilton, meanwhile, took the positives from a promising opening weekend for Ferrari.

"We're not as fast as the Mercedes and we've got work to do, but we're right in the fight and that was a really fun race," he said.

"It felt good for me and also in a couple of more laps I would have had Charles.

"I had great pace and lots of positives to take from today."