Russell beat Mercedes’ most optimistic projections in Hungarian GP

George Russell’s solid drive through the field in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix landed him in seventh position at the checkered flag, a performance the surpassed the most optimistic projections offered by Mercedes’ strategists.

Russell was dumped from qualifying as early as Q1 following a late ill-timed run in the first segment of the Saturday afternoon session.

The Briton was none too pleased with his crews’ botched management of his late Q1 run as it set him up for a busy Sunday that he would start from the penultimate row of the grid.

Russell opted to launch his race on the hard tyre and his 28-lap opening stint carried him well into the top ten.

A switch to the medium compound saw him battle his way back into the first half of the running order, while his second stop only set him back to P8 from where he gained a position in the closing stages of the race to the detriment of Carlos Sainz.

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Russell was unable to reel in Charles Leclerc on the road but a five-second time penalty handed to the Ferrari charger allowed him to claim sixth in the race’s final standings, a result that contended the Mercedes driver.

“P6 was beyond expectations,” he commented after the race. “I think the strategists were quoting P11 before the race and P7 if we maximised everything.

“And here we are, P6, ahead of both Ferraris who started 12 positions ahead of us! I’m happy with that.”

Although Lewis Hamilton was unable to uphold in the race the stunning pace his car enjoyed in qualifying, Russell suggested that the performance of his W14 improved with each passing lap.

“That was just the pace we had,” he said. “You know, the car was really quick.

“This place is one of my favourite circuits, one of my best circuits and as a team, we generally go really well here. So it was no surprise how quick we were today.

Obviously, it is disappointing, because I believe we could have been right up there with Lewis [Hamilton] yesterday. And as a team, if you’ve got two cars on the front two rows, the dynamic changes totally.

“Small opportunity that was missed, but nevertheless, I think we pulled points on P2 in the championship, so we’ll take it.”

The speed of McLaren’s revitalized MCL60 hasn’t gone unnoticed by Mercedes. After Lando Norris and rookie Oscar Piastri concluded their afternoon at the Hungaroring second and fifth, Russell reckoned that the papaya squad now holds a slight edge over the Brackley team.

“McLaren, in all honesty, maybe seem one small step ahead [of Mercedes],” he said. “Probably more so in Lando’s side, Lando has done a really great job.

“But you know, I’ve been really impressed with Oscar this year. He hasn’t really put a foot wrong all season, as a rookie it’s really impressive. He’ll get there I’m sure, maybe to Lando’s level at some point. Who knows?

“When that’s the case, they’re going to be a real threat, but I think we’ve got enough legs on them so far to hold them off until the rest of the season. I’d say we’re maybe equal second with McLaren.”

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