Australian Grand Prix: George Russell says Mercedes' advantage a 'perfect storm' as Lando Norris criticises new cars

George Russell (right) and Kimi Antonelli gave Mercedes their first front-row lockout since the 2024 British Grand Prix, when the Briton was on pole and Lewis Hamilton started alongside him George Russell said he believed a "perfect storm" accounted for the chasm between Mercedes and their rivals in qualifying at the first race of the new Formula 1 season. The Briton's remarks were a reference to the fact that Max Verstappen, whom Russell said Mercedes believed was their closest rival, crashed without setting a time. But it may also be that the remark works as a more general reflection of an Australian Grand Prix grid that looks as if it was a function of possibly the most controversial set of new rules F1 has ever seen. McLaren's Lando Norris, the world champion, said after qualifying sixth in Melbourne: "We've come from the best cars ever made in Formula 1, and the nicest to drive, to probably the worst." Norris was talking about the impact of electrical energy management on the way drivers operate their new cars, with engines that have a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power, and the unusually large impact optimising that has on lap time. If that sounds co