George Russell (centre R) and Kimi Antonelli celebrate in Melbourne

Shanghai (AFP) - George Russell said Thursday the “championship means nothing at this point” as the Mercedes ace enters the second weekend of the Formula One season top of the pile following victory in Melbourne.

The Briton began the campaign as favourite to win a maiden world championship and showed why as he led home a Mercedes one-two with teammate Kimi Antonelli in Sunday’s season-opener.

The Australian Grand Prix heralded a new era for the sport with numerous rule changes, including a 50-50 split between conventional and electrical power.

Rivals had pinpointed Mercedes as the team to beat in the build-up to the season, but Russell was eager not to sound too triumphant going into the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend.

“It feels no different to any other day, to be honest, here in China,” the 28-year-old said in Shanghai.

“Preparing as usual, going about my business as usual.

“I’m most happy about the fact that the car is quick and reacting as we think.

“There’s still room to improve and that’s what I’m most pleased about.

“A championship means nothing at this point.”

Ferrari were the closest challengers to Mercedes in Melbourne, with Charles Leclerc third and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton fourth.

Russell believes the season will be “quite a close fight between ourselves and Ferrari”, a view he said was shared by fellow Briton Hamilton.

The pair, former teammates at Mercedes, shared a flight to Shanghai together.

Russell warned it was not only Ferrari who posed a threat, even if they are shaping up as the prime challengers ahead of Red Bull and McLaren.

“My view is a lot of teams didn’t optimise qualifying. I think we did a really great job of qualifying,” he said, having started the Albert Park race from pole.

“But I think Sunday showed the true pace. And, you know, when you look at Ferrari… they were basically doing the same lap times as us.”