George Russell in huge Australian Grand Prix fire as Mercedes car engulfed in flames | F1 | Sport

George Russell’s Mercedes set alight in a big fire during the Australian Grand Prix after the British driver suffered an engine failure. The blaze forced the 25-year-old to retire from the race after a miserable afternoon which had also seen him badly lose out as a result of a red flag decision. 

Russell had taken the lead in Albert Park at the first corner, getting past the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in a surprising start. However, his Grand Prix started to fall apart after Alex Albon’s huge crash brought out the safety car with Mercedes taking the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres. 

However, the red flag came out shortly afterwards, giving the cars ahead of him a free pit stop and meaning Russell had effectively given up places for nothing. He recovered to fourth but his race was over by lap 18 as an engine failure engulfed his Mercedes in flames. 

The Brit said it was a ‘PU’ issue before quickly getting himself out of the car as marshalls raced to the track with fire extinguishers to safely put the fire out. A short virtual safety car period followed as the W14 was recovered from the race course before on-track action got back underway. 

Russell took to Twitter to voice his disappointment shortly after returning to the garage, in a short message that summed up his situation. 

“When it’s not your day, it’s not your day,” he wrote. Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz later confirmed that it had been a power unit issue that had ended Russell’s race prematurely with Mercedes investigating what had gone wrong. 

It was not the first time that Russell’s weekend had been disrupted by fire after his post-qualifying interview on Saturday occurred just as James Courtney’s Supercar caught alight in one of the support races. 

After a few seconds, Russell reacted: “Wow there’s a massive fire. Ah bugger. Is he out? Yeah I hope he’s okay. You can smell the smoke from just over there.”

Fortunately, Courtney escaped unhurt after coming to a halt in the pitlane. The irony may not be lost on Russell especially as he wandered back to the Mercedes garage from his stricken W14.