After his failed attempt to become the only driver with slick tires to attack pole position in qualifying, Mercedes driver George Russell was able to make up for his erroneous decision on Saturday with a fourth-place finish in a Formula 1 race in Montreal.

Russell was on the road even with the rain set-up, which took him a long time to race: “George stunned us with his overtaking maneuver in the first stint. In qualifying, we judged a big wing on his car. Saturday.” To be able to do something in wet conditions,” said Mercedes senior race engineer Andrew Shovlin.

“However, we expected it to be at a disadvantage in the race. However, he was able to use it to attack into corners and fought his way through the field in fourth place.”

With Lewis Hamilton on the podium, it was also Mercedes’ best result of the 2022 season, after bringing home places three and four in the opening race in Bahrain.

Russell: “Couldn’t have got a better result”

Russell said, ‘I don’t think we could have achieved a better result as a team. “I think we were definitely confident that we would be able to overtake Dane Haas and the Alpines, we were a little worried about Leclerc and Checo.”

“To be honest, I’m quite surprised they didn’t make any progress, especially when the safety car finally came out. Our race pace was definitely the best we’ve had all season, so we’re taking positive but real performance. It’s far from what I want.”

Why was Russell slower than Hamilton

“The grip on the track was much better than I expected. We took a little risk and thought a bigger wing would have been nice after yesterday’s rain, but the hold was really strong today with the change in wind direction.”

Russell explained, “I think a one-stop race would have really been possible. Last time, we put a wing that was too big. But it wouldn’t change the overall result.”

In the final stint after a safety car period, the Briton was unable to keep pace with his teammate Hamilton as he struggled with tire temperatures: “I don’t know why I couldn’t get the tires to work, so It was a bit of a shame not to come back and join the fight.”

“But the momentum was really strong in the second stint and in the last stint after the restart. P4 is a good result for the team and it’s great to have Mercedes on the podium again,” said Russell.

Russell: “Not much progress yet”

In terms of race pace, Mercedes was significantly more competitive in Canada than Azerbaijan and Monaco until recently, although Russell said drivers continue to shake up.

“It was definitely bumpy there. We didn’t have any ‘porpoising’, but we just turned around on the straights and hit the ground.” Asked whether Mercedes is slowly getting the bouncing issue under control, he said: “No, because I think there are too many different factors.”

“The wind had a big impact, as did the bumps in the track. The changes requested by the FIA ​​with the additional ground brace for this weekend didn’t work either, which is why we didn’t drive them. This one The overall problem with these 2022 cars, which is yet to come, hasn’t been solved for a long time.”

Despite Mercedes’ improved form, Russell remained pessimistic: “It looked very promising at times in qualifying. But the real gap at the top was still quite a big one.”

“While this seemed like an improvement on paper, we are still far from where we should be. So we haven’t made much progress yet, but we are still trying to close the gap as much as we can. Yes, working so hard.”

Russell hopes to improve at Silverstone

As for the upcoming race at Silverstone, where Mercedes has always won since 2013 except in 2018, Russell expected improvement: “I would like to think that higher speeds should suit us a bit more, but there are no guarantees.”

“Every track we’ve run has presented us with a kind of unknown. And every single race weekend we face different problems. So I think we’re going to be more competitive, but I really No don’t know.”