George Russell rued errors at vital moments preventing both him and the Mercedes Formula 1 team from having a better chance at winning the Canadian Grand Prix.
Russell utilised Mercedes’ renewed pace to take pole position and lead the opening laps, but he dropped behind Lando Norris and Max Verstappen as the track dried.
Although Russell would retrieve second from Norris with a move on slicks in the closing stages, a wide moment into Turn 8 allowed the McLaren driver back through.
The choice to pit under a late Safety Car dropped Russell behind the other McLaren and a clash with Oscar Piastri at the chicane opened the door for Lewis Hamilton.
While Russell would get past both Piastri and his team-mate with passes down the back straight, Russell contemplated what could have been without those blunders.
“I think if you told us ahead of this weekend and P3, we may not have believed you, to be honest,” Russell, who delivered Mercedes’ first podium this season, reviewed.
“But as Max [Verstappen] said, it was such a tricky race out there for everybody. You put a millimetre wide and you’re off.
“And I think for me, it was just one too many mistakes at key moments that cost us a shot of fighting with these two towards the end of the race.”
Russell has revealed the call to trade the Hard for the Medium under the final Safety Car was a choice he backed as he expected new rubber to provide an advantage.
However, the Mercedes driver conceded that in hindsight giving up track position and needing to overtake Piastri compromised his prospects of bettering third place.
“Yeah, I was pushing to pit because I thought the new Medium would have been really competitive at the end,” he explained.
“I need to look at it because to be honest, in hindsight, I think we had really great pace.
“Those guys were on the Medium. And me being on the Hard, I think we’d probably be in a really strong position to fight.
“But there’s a lot of changes you have made if you know how things play out in retrospectively.
“But, you know, I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. Really proud of the team because we’ve been pushing these upgrades through and it’s really paying dividends.”
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