George Russell insisted Mercedes had to be realistic despite a podium finish on the streets of Baku, having inherited P3 thanks to Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez’s collision.
Lewis Hamilton earned double points for the Silver Arrows by finishing in ninth place at the end of the race. The team decided to start from the pit lane after installing new power unit components following the qualifying session.
Russell didn’t have a great start to his race in Baku when he was overtaken by Max Verstappen at the beginning. However, things turned around for him after he made a pit stop for hard compound tires.
The Mercedes car performed better after the pit stop, allowing Russell to catch up to and overtake Verstappen on the track.
Before Sainz and Perez crashed out in a dramatic manner, he was close to catching up with them in their battle, which ultimately resulted in him moving up from fifth to third place at the end of the race.
While a podium finish and the points that go with it are always welcome, Russell was under no illusions as to where Mercedes ranked in the pecking order at the end of a tricky weekend that saw the team complete not one but two Power Unit changes.
Definitely surprised,” was his take on his podium finish. “I think there was so much hard work this weekend for everybody in the team. There were engine changes on my side, engine changes for Lewis, so much going on, everybody was working so hard.
“We had a really bad start to the race, I was dropping off a lot, but on the hard tyre I think we were one of the quickest out there and that was great. Got past Max, so an added bonus to stand on the podium.
“I mean we’ve got to be realistic still. We should’ve finished fifth today, that was the true result. Obviously with Lando [Norris’] qualifying yesterday he probably would’ve been up there as well, so I don’t want to get carried away with ourselves with this podium today. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Hopefully Singapore’s a slightly better weekend.”
As for Hamilton, having taken on a raft of new PU components after qualifying, he was resigned to a long afternoon after his pit lane start. He made up plenty of ground early on, and again after his pit stop – and spent much of the latter part of the race battling the two rookies, Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman.
“ He described today’s race as tough. Friday went well, but the weekend was challenging.
Changes made on Saturday did not help.” “We knew it would be difficult to pass today. It is tough to follow in the second sector. Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman did a great job. Youngsters like them are doing well. Their first and second races were impressive.”
Hamilton shook hands with the rookies after the race. He found it cool to race with the next generation. Both Colapinto and Bearman finished near Hamilton and scored points.
Mercedes received good news that Hamilton confirmed more upgrades are planned before the season ends, which they hope will improve their performance.