Russell beat Mercedes’ strategy simulation with 12-place climb to sixth

George Russell says he beat the predictions of Mercedes’ strategists by gaining 12 places to finish sixth at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

He crossed the finishing line in seventh place but gained another position from Charles Leclerc, who was given a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pits. Russell qualified a lowly 18th after being eliminated in the first round of qualifying yesterday.

Mercedes did not believe he would be able to finish as high as sixth, just two places behind team mate Lewis Hamilton, who claimed pole position.

“The strategist was telling me this morning P11 is most realistic and P7 if we maximise everything,” Russell told media including RaceFans at the Hungaroring. “But to come away P6 with no Safety Car, no VSC, on merit was a really great result.”

However he believes the result shows he could have achieved much more had he qualified as well as his team mate did.

“Equally, it’s proof that this weekend was probably a missed opportunity,” said Russell. “I’m confident I could have been up there with Lewis yesterday.

“This is one of my favourite circuits, the car always performs well here and when you’ve got two cars up there fighting for, let’s say P2, it gives you a lot more options.

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“Lewis was really strong as well, and if things panned out slightly differently he would have been P2 as well. So, a missed opportunity, we’ll learn from it, but the positives are we’re moving ahead of Aston and Ferrari.”

Russell made his way through the field after being one of only two drivers to start the race on the hard tyre compound. Pirelli brought tyres which were one stage softer than those used last year, and Russell did not expect to four other drivers taking the start on the softest compound.

“This year’s hard is last year’s medium, so I was quite surprised how many cars started on the soft. I was really surprised any car started on the soft, and I was surprised only two cars started on the hard. So I think we made the right strategy in that case.”

In the closing stages of the race, as Russell caught Carlos Sainz Jnr, he suggested to his team that they make a third pit stop. They chose not to do so, a decision which paid off, as he was able to pass the Ferrari and close on Leclerc.

“The three-stop was potentially on the cards for a few teams,” said Russell. “I was almost calling for it at the end, but as things panned out the two-stop was quite comfortable.”

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