Russell retires from Australian GP with fiery engine issue

George Russell has been forced into retirement at the F1 Australian Grand Prix with a power unit problem.

02 Apr 2023

Russell retires from Australian GP with fiery engine issue

Russell was running in fourth place when his engine gave up as he crossed the start-finish line, forcing him to pull over at the exit of the pit lane.

The Briton's W14 caught fire when the issue occured shortly after the race had re-started following a red flag stoppage.

Russell led the early stages of the race after making a brilliant start to pass Red Bull's Max Verstappen, but dropped to seventh after losing out when he pitted under an early Safety Car, just before the race was suspended.

Russell would then miss the craziest part of the race in Melbourne.

Further red flags delayed the conclusion, until Max Verstappen finally claimed the victory until confusing circumstances.

Lewis Hamilton finished second, Fernando Alonso third.

Mercedes have been blighted with problems this season but reliability has not been one of them, so they will hope to put Russell's retirement down to an unfortunate incident.

LAP 18/58

It goes from bad to worse for George Russell...

He is forced to retire as fire and smoke emerges from his car #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/umJP1NDrqY
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2023