Pace would have “fallen off a cliff” trying to fight Perez

Russell sat fifth during the opening stint of the race at Albert Park before pitting under the safety car to leap up to third ahead of both Red Bull driver Perez and team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Russell was instructed with 20 laps to go not to fight Perez for third place as he needed to manage his tyres to the end of the race. Perez ultimately got the overtake completed three laps later.

But after Max Verstappen’s late DNF for Red Bull, Russell was able to grab third after…