F1 Australian Grand Prix: George Russell has a message for Lewis Hamilton: 'Shut up and focus'

Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Ferrari, Mercedes, Montreal, 2025 — Photo: © IMAGO

Australian Grand Prix

'Shut up and focus': George Russell's message to Lewis Hamilton after Australian Grand Prix

The Mercedes star will fly home to Monaco with seven-time world champion Hamilton

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 8 March 2026 20:56

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George Russell will have a pretty strong message for F1 rival Lewis Hamilton if the seven-time world champion tries to moan about Mercedes during their flight home from the Australian Grand Prix.

The Silver Arrows left Melbourne with a flawless weekend in the bag, locking out the front row of the grid in qualifying with Russell and Kimi Antonelli then bringing home a 1-2 in the race.

Of course, it wasn't entirely smooth sailing, with Antonelli suffering a big crash in FP3 and Russell losing the lead on the first lap of the grand prix to Charles Leclerc.

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But the overriding narrative entering China is that Mercedes are top dogs, thanks in no small part to their monster engine and clever trick involving the geometric compression ratio.

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Russell and Hamilton fly home together

Speaking to Viaplay after the Australian Grand Prix, Russell was asked whether he would celebrate his race victory with a 'beer or a cocktail'.

The Brit then responded with a good-natured joke, and said: "I'm flying with Lewis, so I'm sure I'm gonna hear about: 'Your engine is so good, your compression ratio is illegal, and this, and that...' So, yeah, I think I'll just try and get to sleep quite early. I'll just say: 'Shut up and focus on your own stuff.'"

Far from being discouraged by Mercedes' pace, Hamilton revealed he was 'proud' of his Ferrari team after the Australian GP and stated they will be trying everything in their power to catch Mercedes.

He said to Sky Sports: "We’ve got a lot of work to do to catch Mercedes but it’s not impossible. We’ve got to keep pushing, keep digging deep and I’ll keep pushing until our next race."