George Russell satisfied with fourth place in Miami, finishing ahead of Ferrari

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team’s George Russell equalled his best result of the season so far with a fourth place finish at the Miami Grand Prix, outperforming rival team Scuderia Ferrari in spite of a difficult qualifying. 

“That was a really satisfying race for us today. After the challenges in Qualifying, it felt like a more normal day for us. To finish P4 on merit and finish ahead of the Ferraris was the maximum we could have achieved. The battle with Carlos was really enjoyable. I made a good move that needed a lot of commitment as the track is so dirty off-line.”

Russell thanked team-mate Lewis Hamilton for allowing him to pass during the race, considering their opposite strategies– with Russell starting on mediums from sixth place, and Hamilton opting for hards from down in thirteenth. 

“Thanks to Lewis for letting me by too and enabling me to get on with my race as we were in different battles today. We’ve got a really good relationship and we only want what is best for the Team. That’s what we are working towards.” 

The team is aware of the car’s shortcomings, Russell added, and plan to introduce upgrades at the upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. He hopes to see them build upon the success they found on race day in Miami, but realizes that there is still much to be done in order to catch up with frontrunners Red Bull Racing.

“We know where we are at the moment, and the car is still challenging to drive. We hope to have some updates on the car in Imola; they are not going to change the world for us but hopefully it will be a step in the right direction.”

“Despite today’s positives, we know we’ve still got a lot of work to do and need to make significant improvements to close the gap to Red Bull.”

“Saturday was difficult, but I always try to turn negatives into positives” – Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton battled through the pack in order to recover from his lowly starting position, ultimately moving all the way up to sixth after a “fun” race with plenty of on-track duels. 

“Today was a good race and I am happy we moved forwards. Saturday was difficult, but I always try to turn negatives into positives. Going from P13 to P6 is decent and I had a lot of fun making my way through; it was great to have several battles, so I enjoyed it.”

Hamilton said that it took some patience to be able to overtake for positions, ultimately finding the opportunity to make moves up the field after pitting for mediums on lap thirty-eight. 

“It wasn’t spectacular at the start as we were stuck in a DRS train and struggling to overtake. I had to bide my time and then eventually, I was able to start attacking. The car was much better on the medium tyre and came alive midway through the race.”

Having made up seven positions through the race, Hamilton was pleased with the points he was able to earn at Miami International Autodrome. He remains optimistic about the team’s trajectory as they continue to push for improvement on the technical side. 

“It’s good points for the Team and I want to say a big thank you to all of them. They are keeping their heads down and working hard to improve. We’re not where we want to be, but the morale is still great.”