George Russell: “I’m confident that we’ve got stronger days ahead of us”

George Russell continued his record of finishing inside the top five in every race in 2022 on Sunday, with the Briton taking fifth place in the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver admitted it was a tough day behind the wheel of the W13 amid changeable conditions at the Circuit de Monaco, and he enjoyed a good little battle with McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris after the pit stops, a battle he ultimately won.

Russell said Mercedes found some limitations with their car during the Monaco weekend, but he was still pleased to secure a top five finish for the seventh time in seven races, and believes better results are just around the corner.

“That was a tough afternoon out there, very physical with the bumpy ride of the car, and a long afternoon across a range of conditions,” said Russell.  “It was tricky in the wet, holding onto the wet tyres for as long as possible, then I had a nice dice with Lando after the stops – and some strong pace on the hard tyre.

“It was tough on the medium in the second part of the race, with a lot of graining towards the end, but P5 is still a decent result.

“We encountered some of the limitations of our car at this track, but we’ve learned a lot and can put that to good use in the coming weeks to take another step forward. Overall, it’s a decent result and I’m confident that we’ve got stronger days ahead of us.”

“That was one of those days in Monaco” – Lewis Hamilton

Team-mate Lewis Hamilton had a frustrating day in Monaco, with the seven-time World Champion spending long periods of time behind the two BWT Alpine F1 Team drivers, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso.

Having made the switch to intermediate tyres on a drying track, Hamilton found himself stuck behind Ocon, who was still on the full wet tyres, and with Monaco incredibly difficult to pass on, it cost the British racer a lot of time and damage to his front wing after contact.

In the final stint, Hamilton then found himself behind the second Alpine of Alonso, and despite the Spaniard running a slower pace, he was unable to find a way passed, and he was forced to settle for eighth at the chequered flag.

“That was one of those days in Monaco – stuck behind other cars for most of the race and, in the end, just cruising but not able to overtake,” said Hamilton.  

“I was glad when the rain came because that usually creates opportunities, unfortunately it didn’t play out that way and we couldn’t get past Ocon when I was running on the intermediates.

“It’s been a tough weekend and I’ve had some unlucky situations, like the red flag in qualifying, so I’m looking forward now to turning the page and heading to Baku. It’s a different kind of track, even though there are some similarities to the slow corners here in Monaco, but hopefully we can move forward and show a better level of performance like we saw in Barcelona.”  

Lewis Hamilton finished eighth in Monaco – Credit: LAT Images