With heavy rain forecast for the start of the race, Russell said he was “rubbing his hands together” in anticipation of taking advantage of the soft tire which is better suited to running in slippery conditions. But once the rain didn’t materialise, he was held in check by the Ferraris and forced to pit early, leaving him exposed midway through the race. “It was always going to be a tough afternoon because there was rain in the air,” said Russell, having finished third. “Usually when you’re in pole position and you’re spitting, you’re pretty disappointed, but knowing I was on the soft tires I was rubbing my hands together. “I made a very good start, the first four laps were very strong and closed the gap to three seconds from Carlos [Sainz] and unfortunately the rain stopped so the medium tires came into their own but we still had a good first pass and we pitted early on both occasions to cover Max and the Ferrari and in the end Max was too quick for us today. “That put us in a very difficult position at that last stop in the middle and I was already struggling a bit and the mechanic told me 25 laps to go and the rain started coming down and the temperatures were dropping so I thought it was going to be a tough last few laps.” . George Russell, Mercedes W13, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75 Photo: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images Having overtaken Verstappen in the second round of pitstops, Russell then gave way to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was on soft tires for the final stretch to drop to third by the finish after holding off Sainz. “Lewis did an amazing job and he had a much superior pace at the end, he had a very strong mid-range,” Russell said. “I think as a team we have a lot to be proud of, we did everything right for both of us to give us as a team the best chance to fight for the win. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way today, but as a team we did everything right.” Russell moved up to fourth in the F1 drivers’ standings, two points ahead of Sainz, thanks to his fifth podium of the season. Read also:
