‘If I’m being brutally honest’: George Russell raises Mercedes concern following British Grand Prix
You would think George Russell would be content with achieving his first-ever home podium at the British Grand Prix last weekend, but the Mercedes driver - as competitive as he is - was not satisfied with his performance.
Russell will have been thrilled to have gained significant ground on teammate Kimi Antonelli in the drivers’ championship, however he believes his display at Silverstone didn’t warrant a second-placed finish.
Despite ending up splitting Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton on the podium, Russell was running seventh at one stage. The Briton was struggling for pace as it was, and then a slow puncture forced an unscheduled pit stop.
If it wasn’t for a late safety car caused by Max Verstappen’s crash and teammate Antonelli encountering problems with his car, Russell would have finished well outside the top three.
"After the slow puncture and pitting, then going down to P7, if you told me I was going to come home in second, I would have been like, ‘there's no way'," Russell admitted after the race.
"I wouldn't have been able to comprehend how those events would have unfolded. I think P3 was probably a deserved result behind Kimi and Charles.
"Obviously I was ahead of Lewis, I was fighting with Max. Max is a tough competitor, I think I would have passed him at one point. Then I’m standing here P2!"
Now on 154 points and 25 behind Antonelli (179), Russell can consider himself well and truly back in the title fight, while Hamilton (147) is in the mix.
But, if Russell cannot improve his form and consistency, he’s not feeling confident.
"It is important just to keep on fighting but the truth is, there's been a lot of things this weekend we don't really understand," Russell added.
"Straight line speed issues on Saturday and Friday, I think it was better today but the performance wasn't good enough.
“If I'm being brutally honest, I'm not going to fight for a championship if the performances continue like that.
"I'm not coming away from this weekend satisfied. I'll take the result, but I would have been more satisfied leaving Canada when I broke down from the lead than I am today standing P2.
"Just because I probably deserved the win in Canada, and today I didn't deserve to stand where I stood."
Russell has just under two weeks to prepare for his next race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, where he will be keen to bounce back.