F1 star George Russell pulls out of Australian GP as car SETS ON FIRE after Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes pal had led race

GEORGE RUSSELL was forced to retire from the Australia Grand Prix after his car SET ON FIRE.

The Mercedes driver had been enjoying a good race in Melbourne until his afternoon was cut prematurely short.

Russell had overtaken championship Max Verstappen on lap one after a better getaway off the grid.

Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton

However, this was to be short-lived as Alex Albon lost control of his car and spun into the wall, causing a safety car.

Merc chiefs opted to pit race leader Russell to give him the optimum tyre strategy upon the restart.

But as the race director switched to a red flag, the strategy - and Russell's race lead - went up in smoke.

Upon the restart, Russell began his fightback from his newfound position of P7, fighting up to P4.

But on lap 18 disaster struck as fire and smoke began blowing out the back of his W14.

The 25-year-old then pulled to the side of the track and vacated his vehicle for stewards to extinguish the danger.

BETTING SPECIAL - BEST SPORTS BETTING APPS IN THE UK

Russell has already taken to Twitter to bemoan his bad luck.

In a short tweet he said: "When it’s not your day, it’s not your day."

The Brit became the third driver to retire from the race after Charles Leclerc became beached in the gravel trap upon being tagged on lap one and Albon's crash.

Russell's team-mate Hamilton had inherited the race lead but was unable to hold off Verstappen for long as the Dutchman swept by him thanks to the help of DRS.

Verstappen held on to win the race despite a huge pile-up at the end of the Grand Prix.

Hamilton and Alonso shared the podium with him.