Wolff tempers expectations: 'Looked better than we are'

With a second-place finish for Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes captured an unexpected podium in Australia. The German team also led for some time, first with George Russell, and later with Hamilton, but unfortunately the former was forced to retire with an engine problem.

Russell - who had ended up falling down the order due to a mistimed pit stop after the first red flag - was forced to pull his Mercedes over on the start-finish straight, as flames poured out the back of his car. No doubt when they return to the factory in England, the team will investigate what caused the failure. At first glance, according to team boss Toto Wolff, it was a problem with one of the cylinders, he said speaking to Auto, Motor und Sport.

Until his failure, Russell was moving through the field, with a podium finish in sight. However, the win was not realistic for Mercedes in regard to their race pace. Max Verstappen's Red Bull was far too fast, although, with some luck, victory could have been celebrated thanks to the late red flags and a good restart, but they were unable to reel in the rapid Red Bull. Still, Mercedes was more than happy with the final result in Melbourne.

The Mercedes engineers had managed to find the right set-up on the Albert Park circuit. That was a great achievement, as the margins between right and wrong were small on this track. "The track and the tarmac helped us," Wolff looked back. "We looked better than we are in reality."