Hours After Dissing Mercedes Upgrades, George Russell Kicks Himself for Fumbling a Big Chance at the Monaco GP: “One Tiny Mistake”

Going into the race, George Russell complained about the upgraded W14 but made a costly mistake himself later. Mercedes debuted what they hoped would be substantial upgrades in the Monaco GP, with its zero-pod philosophy officially abandoned. However, going by their performance, they haven’t made much progress. Frustrated by it, Russell hit out at the team for not sticking to one of its most innovative concepts- zero pod design. However, Russell went into the race in the same car, and ‘almost’ made it to the podium.

It was supposed to be just another boring Monaco race on Sunday, but the rain gods have decided otherwise. When the sudden pockets of rain hit the track, several drivers took the timely opportunity to make the switch to intermediate tires. Russell, on the other hand, opted to continue his long stint on the hard tires and moved up several places. However, when the rain started pouring, the Mercedes driver had to pit for intermediate tires to keep his third place. But a small mistake cost him many positions. 

After his pitstop on Lap 55, Russell appeared to get distracted by the yellow flag for a lapped Lance Stroll and joined the Aston Martin driver up the Mirabeau escape road. While returning to the track, the British racer also collided with Sergio Perez and was also handed a five-second time penalty. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon recovered third place, and Russell dropped to P5, behind teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Post-race, explaining the situation, Russell said,as quoted by Speedcafe, “I’m really kicking myself because P3 was almost guaranteed after not pitting. I came out, there was a yellow flag, I backed off, and as soon as I touched the brakes, I locked up and followed (Lance) Stroll up the escape road. That’s probably a lesson, that when you’re not on it and you’re not focused, you make those mistakes. Probably if there wasn’t a yellow flag there, I would have just been focusing more, and I wouldn’t have gone off and cost the team a comfortable P3.”

Expressing disappointment for losing out on his first Monaco podium, the young Briton further added, “But it’s very bitterly disappointing when you do everything right for 98 percent of it, but that one tiny mistake costs everything.”

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On the other hand, his teammate Lewis Hamilton showed his appreciation of the car after what he described as an ‘amazing day’ in Monaco. 

Lewis Hamilton on the upgraded W14

Lewis Hamilton got off to a strong start in Monaco as the Briton traded the fastest times early on in FP1 to end up third fastest. However, that was followed by disappointment as he crashed in FP3, and finished only P6 in the qualifying. But going into the race, the Mercedes driver has taken a step forward by finishing fourth. Overall, it was an amazing race for the Brackley-based team, given how they leapfrogged the Ferraris in a tricky race like Monaco. 

When asked how the upgraded W14 felt to drive around Monaco, Hamilton replied, “I’ve generally had an amazing day. I’ve really enjoyed driving today. I want to say a big, big thank you to everyone back at the factory. To build, and design and develop a car is not an easy thing. Everyone has put so much time in, so many hours of hard work, to have us here today. I’m glad we were able to keep it on track for them and I think we got a lot of data.”

Although the 38-year-old sees the step forward, he felt the W14 is not as expected, and said, “It’s not the place to ultimately test an upgrade, but the car was generally feeling good. It’s a shame we weren’t as close as I’d hoped at the end of the session.”

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Both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had a good run in Monaco as they ended the race in P4 and P5, respectively.