George Russell enjoyed his best race of the season so far on Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix, as the Briton made up eight places to claim his first podium of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Heading into the seventh race of the year and little was known about how much progress Russell would make, as a result of him being embarrassingly eliminated in Q2.
The former Williams driver started the race from 12th but actually made an electric start, which saw him overtake Sergio Perez on the run down to Turn 1.
Russell found himself three-wide at the first corner with Nico Hulkenberg and Oscar Piastri, before the 25-year-old opted to bail out at Turn 2 and cut across the corner.
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Russell was investigated as a result; however, no action was taken given that he didn’t gain anything from skipping the corner.
The former Williams driver quickly settled into the race and made solid progress, with him having made his way past both Aston Martin drivers and Carlos Sainz.
There was a brief moment of panic for the 25-year-old though, as he reported to Mercedes that it was raining at Turn 5.
Given that no clouds were over the circuit at the time, Russell’s radio message left many confused; however, he later told his team that he thinks the “rain” was actually sweat on his visor.
Russell went on to claim third after setting some electric lap times in the closing stages, something which saw Perez fail to catch the British driver.
The result marked Russell’s best result of the season and somewhat made up for his error in Monaco, where he threw a podium finish away.
He was “surprised” to finish on the rostrum but was very grateful for how good the car felt, something he thanked the Silver Arrows for.
“A little bit surprised for sure,” Russell said after the race.
“Kudos to the team for giving me a great car. That was a fun race for us, starting in P12 coming all the way to P3 – a sign of things to come hopefully for us and the team.”
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With Lewis Hamilton having finished second, it does suggest that Mercedes’ new concept is a step in the right direction, with Russell admitting that the car “definitely feels better” than it did earlier in the season.
“It definitely feels better, but when you compare with the guys around we were just quicker and quicker,” added Russell.
“We know we have put more downforce in the car, we know things are in a better window, so very pleased to be on the podium.”