19 May 2024 , 18:07
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George Russell insisted he will not "sulk" just because he lost sixth place at Imola to team-mate Lewis Hamilton through a Mercedes strategy call.
Russell finished seventh behind his fellow Briton but had been ahead for much of the race. Until, that was, Mercedes pitted him for a second time.
They were worried he was not going to make it to the end of the race on that set of tyres and opted for the cautious approach. It not only made sure he finished, but also secured an extra point for the team by securing the fastest lap on his fresh rubber.
Over the radio, Russell asked if Hamilton would give the place back at the end of the race. That request was denied, but the 26-year-old seemed unperturbed by the end result.
He said: "You are never going to be happy with a P6 and a P7. At the end of the day, as a team, we scored an extra point. I lost my position to Lewis. But, I am not going to sulk over losing a P6, to be honest.
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"This is where we are now. A little bit in no-man's land behind the Ferraris and the McLarens, and ahead of the midfield." But despite that situation, Russell insists a positive mentality remains at Mercedes who for so long were used to winning with regularity.
He added: "To be honest, everyone is staying super motivated. The morale isn't dropping at all which is really quite inspiring to see. Everyone is trying to make this work, and improve it.
"Everyone in Brackley and Brixworth are working at full gas right now. That's great to see. We've just got to keep pushing. This weekend, we maximised it. The car was capable of P6 and P7. That's where we qualified and that's where we finished."
Hamilton was 35 seconds off race-winner Max Verstappen and echoed the phrase used by his team-mate when describing Mercedes' current situation. The seven-time F1 champion said: "We got points, that's a positive. We're in the middle of no man's land, but that's a strong finish, in general, for us. I don't think there was much more to get."
He dismissed the suggestion that he is finding his current situation difficult and added: "I don’t think it's particularly tough - it's where we are. So you just have to do the best you can. And that was the best we could."