F1 Australian GP: “Did Mercedes hire Ferrari engineers” – Fans react as George Russell retires due to a mechanical failure

George Russell was forced to retire from the Australian GP after his car caught fire due to a mechanical issue.

F1 Australian GP: “Did Mercedes hire Ferrari engineers” – Fans react as George Russell retires due to a mechanical failure

George Russell, Australian GP

George Russell had a stellar start to the Australian GP. The British driver managed to gain the lead from Max Verstappen heading into Turn 1. Although, Russell lost out on grid positions after he pitted before the Red Flag on Lap 7. From bad to worse, the 25-year-old’s race got over shortly after on Lap 18 as his Mercedes Power unit caught fire.

This was George Russell‘s first mechanical failure since he joined the Silver Arrows. The British driver was on his way to make up his way back to the podium spots. Unfortunately, the Power Unit gave up and Russell had no choice but to retire from the race. The team tried to call Russell back into the pits but that could not be possible. As Russell was left stranded on the middle of the track.

Albert Park is a fan favorite track in Formula 1

This has been a major blow to the British driver. Russell had looked to set to get a decent result in the race. As the 25-year-old consistently matched the pace of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. However, the reliability issue struck the Mercedes driver and took away what could’ve been his best result of the season so far after an impressive P2 in Qualifying.

Discover: Who has won the most F1 Australian GPs?

“So incredibly unlucky” – Fans disappointed to see George Russel retire from the race

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Russell’s W14 on fire

Fans on Twitter were unhappy with Russell’s retirement. One user took a dig at Mercedes for this failure and questioned whether the team had taken up some of Ferrari’s engineers. The user said, “Did Mercedes hire Ferrari engineers this season? Man” Another fan wondered whether the heat down under’ had caused George Russell’s car to catch fire. The fan replied, “Wow it must be very hot at Australia.”

Another user mentioned how Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon and now George Russell had all retired from the Australian GP. The user said, “Charles out, Alex out, George out….WHY AM I STILL WATCHING?????????” One fan tweeted with a picture of Lewis Hamilton’s infamous engine failure at the 2016 Malaysian GP and wrote, “Same Energy.”


Thus, George Russell is out of the Australian GP. The 25-year-old had shown his pace at the start of the race and was in the fight for victory. Unfortunately, there will be work to do for the Silver Arrows. As Russell missed out on the best opportunity he got so far this season. This puts the entire hopes for Mercedes on Lewis Hamilton at Albert Park.

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