Picture credit: Twitter
George Russell was seen frustrated after finishing fifth at the Monaco GP over a small mistake that ended up costing him a podium. On the other hand, Lewis Hamiton ended at fourth, and was seen happy with his performance in the W14. Russell started eighth and made it all the way to third after he opted against pitting, unlike other drivers who opted to swap tyre. As a result, Russell advanced on track while the rain commenced, and all the drivers were forced to take pit stop.
As he was advancing on the track, a small mistake on his first lap made him lose his position to Esteban Ocon and Hamilton. Things had gotten worse for Russell, adding to his frustration, he collided with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Post race, he said, “I’m kicking myself to be honest, one small mistake cost us a podium. I came out of the pits comfortably ahead of Esteban and Lewis, there was a yellow flag at Turn 5, I backed off and as soon as I pressed the brakes I locked up and followed the yellow flag." He further added, “I think that’s almost a lesson that when you’re not focused sometimes – or not on it – that’s when mistakes happen. I probably wouldn’t have made that mistake if there hadn’t been a yellow flag there.”
When he was reminded that the conditions were tough for all the drivers, he said, “Yeah, it definitely was, it wasn’t the easiest conditions. But there were conditions where I feel like we can maximise the opportunities. Where you know as a driver, if you do a better job than the rest you can pick up the pieces, and we were on course for that until we weren’t, or until I wasn’t with my mistake. Yeah, I really don’t know what more to say.”
On the other hand, Hamilton started the race at fifth, and after Russell’s mistake, pushed Ocon to make eyeing the final spot. However, with no spot left, he ended up fourth. However, the British Mercedes driver was happy taking ‘significant points’ home for his team.