Formula 1 | Mercedes surprise in Melbourne

Surprise Mercedes in qualifying in Australia. Russell e Hamilton they will start from second and third position respectively in tomorrow's Grand Prix, which we remember will start at 7 am Italian time. There W14 exceeded all expectations at Albert Park, and everyone in the Brackley team seemed amazed by these performances. Clearly we need to keep our feet on the ground, Verstappen seems to once again be in a race of its own and the declared fight is with Aston Martin e Ferrari, but a double podium, also given Perez's disaster, is anything but utopian.

“We are happy with how the qualification went – admitted Toto Wolff, Mercedes team principal. We needed some happiness: we worked hard to have the right mechanical setup of the car, learning during the sessions and having the right mentality. We changed the plan regarding the laps to be done in Q1, Q2 and Q3, and starting so far ahead is gratifying, it hasn't happened for a while. We will try to do the best we can in the race, Verstappen is clearly in a championship all his own, but we hope to be able to have our say in the podium area."

“Complicated weekend due to the cool weather, but the team and drivers did a great job to make the tires work in the right way – said Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes on-track technical director. Ferrari and Aston put in some good laps over the weekend, so we went much better than we expected. The sessions were a bit confusing so there was a lack of data which will make it difficult to understand the tires for the race and the softs seem to suffer particularly in the cool conditions. Max has an incredible pace, we believe it will be the same tomorrow, but we are fighting with Ferrari and Aston Martin, and if we manage to stay ahead of them we will be very happy."