Russell “struggling to comprehend” turbulent weekend in Monaco

Written by Mia Wallace

George Russell dropped from podium contention to P13 | Credit: Formula One

It was another disappointing weekend for George Russell, who is still searching for any way to get ahead of his teammate, who can’t seem to be beaten. 

Following an especially difficult retirement in Canada, a track Russell usually excels at, Russell and his camp came into Monaco hoping that all the pieces would fall into place for a solid weekend. 

Russell’s teammate, Kimi Antonelli, put together a monster qualifying lap Saturday to hold off Max Verstappen; meanwhile, Russell was left way off the pace of his younger teammate. Starting sixth on the starting grid in Monaco, Russell could only hope that a miracle would bring him closer to his Mercedes counterpart. 

The race itself was, in short, a series of ups and downs for Russell, who saw whiffs of hope as he chased down Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, showing signs of technical issues early. Following a dramatic session of penalties and safety cars, Russell suffered the consequences of a drive-through penalty late. 

This would effectively end his hopes of point-scoring, pushing him down to a wildly disappointing 13th place. 

With teammate Antonelli claiming his fifth consecutive Grand Prix victory, Russell finds the gap between himself and his championship rival continuing to extend. What was once an already daunting 43-point gap has widened to a whopping 68 points. 

Following the race, Russell was at a loss for words, struggling to come to terms with his continued streak of bad luck.

“I’m flat. I’m beyond frustration. I’m in a state of struggling to comprehend what is going on. 

“The team told me there’s nothing I did wrong in the pit lane... I pressed the limiter before the entry, I released it after the exit, but there was a software issue. 

“A five-second penalty, not ideal, not the end of the world, but then with the pit stop, didn’t serve it, drive-through penalty... the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, and I went from P3 to zero points.” 

Still, Russell refuses to let recent events shake his mindset or chances at the title. Ahead of Barcelona next weekend, he shared some positives.

“We’ve won two of the three Sprints races, we won in Melbourne, I was leading in Canada, and the car broke down. I was leading in Japan, poor Safety Car timing, I could have been on the podium here today. 

“I know it’s all possible, and I haven’t lost any faith in myself. Yesterday, yes, was a really bad day for me, but I still could have been on the podium today. 

“All of these other factors… I wish I could take some blame for what… I’d probably sleep better knowing the failure in Canada was because I hit a kerb wrong, and the pit limiter today I came in too fast. When it’s just totally out of your control, it’s a tough one.”