George Russell secured victory in the Canadian Grand Prix – and has attributed two main reasons for Mercedes’ first win of the F1 season.
George Russell has revealed the main reasons behind Mercedes’ return to winning ways at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The British driver clinched victory under safety car conditions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve following Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ crash with three laps to go.
That afforded the 27-year-old relief from the increasing pressure of Max Verstappen, who finished in second.
Kimi Antonelli, in the other Mercedes, finished third to claim a maiden F1 podium in a strong result for the Brackley-based squad.
“It’s amazing to be back on the top step,” Russell said reflecting on his fourth grand prix victory. “Obviously, last time for us was back in Vegas.
“I felt last year was a victory lost [in Canada], and then obviously we got a victory today, probably due to the incredible pole lap yesterday.
“So happy to see Kimi on the podium as well. So, amazing day for the team. Thanks to everybody back at the factories, been working so hard to get us back fighting for victories.”
When asked by Nico Rosberg, who was conducting the on-track post-race interviews, if something fundamental had changed on the W16 to set up his triumph in Montreal, Russell denied that was the case, instead adding a second key factor in his victory – after starting first.
“No, it’s a little bit cooler around here,” he replied. “You know, we saw it last year in Canada. I’d love to get our hopes up, but I think the strength of our car is in these cooler conditions.
“And let’s see going into the coming races, but we’ll just enjoy it for now.”
When pushed as to whether he could start a win streak at the Red Bull Ring, Russell highlighted how he had won there 12 months ago.
“Time will tell, time will tell,” he said. “I mean, we won Austria last year, so maybe that’s a good omen, but we’ll enjoy it for the time being.
“We did have high expectations coming into this weekend, and it worked out as we thought so yeah, good day.”
