George Russell quizzed on different feeling in W15 compared to Lewis Hamilton

George Russell says he feels “a bit more confidence and consistency” with Mercedes’ 2024 F1 car after out-qualifying teammate Lewis Hamilton at the Australian Grand Prix.

Russell was seventh fastest as Hamilton suffered a shock exit in the second part of qualifying and could only set a time good enough for 11th in Melbourne.

It marked the third weekend in a row that seven-time world champion Hamilton has been out-performed by his teammate in qualifying.

After the session, Russell was asked why he is having a different experience to Hamilton in Mercedes’ W15.

"I'm just focused on myself and my team and trying to maximise it,” Russell replied.

"I can't really comment on Lewis' feeling. Ultimately, we are not quite where we want to be.

"We had a strong qualifying in Bahrain with P3. If it wasn't for the problems in the race we would have been fighting for the podium and we were P5 in Jeddah.

"P7 is not ideal but there's definitely a lot to play for tomorrow.”

Hamilton admitted he continues to struggle with the W15’s ‘inconsistencies’ but Russell said he has more confidence in the car.

"From my side, I feel a bit more confidence and consistency with the car. We know we need to improve in the high-speed corners and on this track there are quite a few of those,” Russell added.

"I think we will be in a much better place tomorrow when we have more fuel in the car and the pace is a little slower from everybody. But this circuit is not playing to our strengths.”

Speaking to F1TV, Hamilton conceded: “I don’t know if I’m dealing with that great. I mean, less consistent than George.

“George is doing a better job with our car, three qualifyings in a row that he’s out-qualified me. He just seems to get on a lot better than I do.

“I’m just trying to keep my head above water and just continue to realise how it could be way worse.”