George Russell continued his streak of finishing every race in the top 5 finish this season with a recent P4 in Montreal. But this time, the Briton finished behind Lewis Hamilton, who clinched his second P3 of the season after Bahrain. Russell recently revealed that Mercedes could not have had a better result during the Candian weekend. He feels that Mercedes still have a long gap to cover in order to be in contention for the championship and compete with the frontrunners, Red Bull and Ferrari. George had a setback on Saturday’s qualifying when he made a gamble on slick tyres on a wet track in the final lap. As a result, the Mercedes driver started P8 on the grid during Sunday’s race.
Starting at P8, Russell quickly moved up the field and was P5 during the fifth lap. Further, the Briton managed to attain P4 when Alonso came into the pits on Lap 27. George eventually finished P4 behind his team to give his team some much-needed points. Moreover, the Mercedes driver commended Mercedes’ pace in Montreal. However, Russell also admitted that he was surprised when Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari did not attack during the final few laps of the race.
Talking about the race, George told that they could not have scored a better result in Montreal. The Briton shared that Mercedes had faith that they would be able to finish ahead of Haas and Alpine. It was just Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez that Russell was concerned about. However, he managed to keep Leclerc from overtaking while Perez had to retire due to a gearbox malfunction and eventually finished the race in fourth place.
Russell Feels Mercedes Got Closest To The Frontrunners In Montreal This Season
George Russell was a bit surprised by the lack of progress in the field after the end of the Safety car period. The Briton felt that the W13’s pace was the closest to the frontrunners it has been all season. Thus, George hoped that his team would take the positives from the Candian weekend. But, the Mercedes driver also admitted that his team’s inherent performance was far from where they wanted it to be. Mercedes had an improved race in Montreal as the drivers were seen matching the pace of Red Bull’s Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on several occasions. However, the Briton felt that the Silver Arrows still have a large distance to cover.
Further, George said that the W13 looked promising during the qualifying. He pointed out that the actual pace deficit to the frontrunners was still quite substantial. Russell mentioned that Mercedes had not made huge amounts of progress so far. However, the German team is working hard to close the gap with Red Bull and Ferrari. George added, “So even if it looked on paper a bit of an improvement, we are still some way from where we need to be.”
The two Mercedes drivers will travel to Silverstone, their home ground for the next race. The younger Briton felt that the fast Silverstone track would be suitable for the Mercedes W13’s style. However, he was mindful of the fact that every track produces a different set of challenges. Thus, the team needs to counter to win. Russell said that he would like to think that the high-speed nature of the Silverstone track will help the team a bit more. But, he also mentioned that there were no guarantees. Russell pointed out that every track his team has gone to has thrown a different set of challenges. He added, “So I’d like to think we will be competitive. But I don’t now.”