George Russell after the Silverstone GP: “That’s why you must never give up”

The race at the Silverstone Circuit marked George Russell’s home race. And it was a tough one. For the British driver from the Mercedes team, the starting position was significantly worse than that of his team-mate and fiercest World Championship rival, Kimi Antonelli, who started from pole. Russell, on the other hand, had to make do with fourth on the grid, with his team-mate and the two Ferrari stars, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, starting ahead of him.

The 28-year-old wasn’t discouraged by this; he defended his position at the start and was just in the process of battling Max Verstappen and Hamilton for a place on the podium when the team informed him that he had a slow puncture. “I didn’t even really react to it,” he said afterwards.

“We’ve had quite a bit of bad luck this year, and when I was told I had a slow puncture, I was just about to overtake Max to take third place. I just thought to myself: ‘Ah, here we go again,’” said Russell, who had to head for the pits and fell back once more.

Unexpected twist in the final laps

But then the course of the race played into his hands: his team-mate Kimi Antonelli was set back by a broken part on his GP car and struggled to stay on the track – for which he was handed a time penalty. Verstappen ended the race in the gravel trap, triggering a safety car period that lasted until the chequered flag. And because Ferrari took the opportunity to change tyres, Russell ultimately crossed the finish line in second place.

The seven-time Grand Prix winner hadn’t expected such a strong result himself. After getting out of the car, he explained: “I rejoined the track in seventh place behind Isack Hadjar following my unplanned pit stop, and if someone had told me then that I’d finish second 14 laps later, I’d only have thought that possible in a downpour. But that’s our sport. That’s why it’s important to just keep going – you must never give up.”

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17.07.2026 - 13:15