George Russell secures third place in the first Formula One race of the season in Melbourne, Australia

George Russell made his strongest start to a Formula One season yet as he mastered the treacherous conditions in Melbourne on Sunday.

Russell took third place in an Australian Grand Prix race that he described as 'not easy for anyone'.

The start to the weekend was a mixed bag for the driver who hails from Tydd St Giles as Mercedes tried to get to grips with their new car leading to Russell’s results in free practice ranging from 10th to second.

As such, the first qualifying session of the year was something of an unknown, not least because Russell had a new team-mate in Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli.

Despite Antonelli failing to make it past the first stage of qualifying, Russell found himself in the top 10 shootout and was within a tenth of pole however he failed to make gains on his final lap to end up in fourth.

The first race of the F1 season started with a deluge of rain which mandated the use of the intermediate tyres on the start, but despite this challenge Russell was able to hold position and even attempted to challenge reigning champion Max Verstappen.

However, this fight was soon neutralised by the deployment of the safety car, something that would reappear often over the course of the race.

For the first half of the race, Russell was simply managing his position and the conditions until another safety car period handed him - and the rest of the field - an opportunity to save time on a pit stop.

This caused a switch to slick medium tyres however Russell’s stint on the dry tyres was short-lived as the rain intensified leading to another round of pit stops.

However, every cloud has a silver lining and the heavy rain had forced Oscar Piastri - running in second - into an error that sent him into the grass and a lap down handing Russell the final podium position.

said: "It wasn't an easy race for anyone so I was pleased to bring it home in third place, taking our first podium finish of the new season.

"Keeping it on the road was a challenge at times, particularly in the changeable conditions.

"There were moments when the rain became slightly heavier whilst running on worn intermediate tyres and then near the end the downpour arrived when we were on slicks.

"The team did a great job operationally and we definitely maximised the result.

"The pace of the car was enough for us to fight for the podium, but we know we've got to find more speed if we want to challenge McLaren in normal conditions."

A five-second time penalty for an unsafe release dropped team-mate Antonelli back to fifth but that was subsequently rescinded post-race, capping an impressive and mature debut for the 18-year-old.

The Italian became the second-youngest points scorer in F1 history and the youngest to score points on his debut which drew praise from team-mate Russell.

He said: "Kimi did an amazing job for his first race.

"To come through from 16th to fourth at any time is impressive. To do it on his Grand Prix debut is therefore fantastic.

"He deserved that result after being unlucky to suffer floor damage in qualifying. It's a positive start to the season for the whole team."

Russell’s podium puts Mercedes joint top of the Constructors’ standings going into the second round of the F1 season in Shanghai this weekend.