Mercedes star George Russell at the British Grand Prix: More luck than speed?

For George Russell, his home race at the Silverstone Circuit ended on a high note: the British Mercedes driver crossed the finish line behind winner Charles Leclerc, securing his first Grand Prix podium finish at the historic circuit. He was lucky, though, as his team-mate Kimi Antonelli – on fresher tyres – was on the verge of snatching the lead when a wild ride over the kerbs and a broken part that got caught ruined his race.

Contrary to his team’s wishes, Antonelli remained on the track, veering off the track several times in his unwieldy GP car and incurring a time penalty as a result. The safety car period, triggered by Max Verstappen’s crash, meant he was unable to build up the necessary lead to hold on to tenth place – and thus the final points-scoring position. In the end, the World Championship leader from Italy finished only fifteenth.

Russell also benefited from Ferrari’s decision to bring Lewis Hamilton into the pits during the late safety car phase. As a result, the seven-time champion lost second place to his former team-mate. On the ‘Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show’, Russell emphasised: ‘It felt strange. Because I felt that third place behind Kimi and Charles would have been a deserved result.’

“But then Kimi was really unlucky and Max had a problem with his car. Lewis was brought in during the safety car phase, and that was probably the right decision. Because whatever you do in a situation like that, you can be right or wrong. You can’t turn into the pits, because then you’ll be annoyed when the race is restarted. And if you do pit, you lose a position. There’s no absolutely right decision,” says the 28-year-old.

“For me personally, it felt very strange that I ended up in second place as a result. Because I had the feeling that the whole race had been going against me. And suddenly I was back in second place, and that had nothing to do with what we’d done,” Russell also admitted.

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