George Russell explains why he felt a podium was achievable at the 2023 F1 Monaco GP

George Russell was left frustrated after the 2023 F1 Monaco GP as the Mercedes driver missed out on a podium because of a mistake he made in the wet weather. The driver was successfully able to stretch his stint on hard tires until the moment rain came in the second half of the race.

He was third in the race when he came into the pits, and pitting for intermediates meant Russell was going to hold on to that position.

However, on his first lap out on intermediate tires, George Russell went straight on in Mirabau and lost position to both Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton. He was also given a five-second penalty for how he rejoined the track and hit Sergio Perez in the process.

George Russell finished the race in P5 after his mistake and was left ruing what could have been a podium. Talking to Sky Sports after the race, Russell said:

“P3 was definitely achievable today. I’ve only learnt my mistake wasn’t shown on TV – I was comfortably ahead of Lewis and Ocon because I hadn’t pitted on the slick. I went straight from the hard to the intermediate so came out in P5 behind the Ferraris who were on slicks so we were effectively P3 on the road."

He added:

"There were yellow flags so I backed off and when I touched the brake I just locked up and followed the yellow flag. That was a lesson to me that sometimes when you’re not fully on it and fully focused that’s when mistakes happen. Really disappointed because if that mistake didn’t happen P3 was almost guaranteed.”

George Russell should not be too hard on himself: Toto Wolff

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was sympathetic with his driver after the race and said that George Russell should not be too hard on himself after that error. Talking to the media. Wolff said:

"Lewis stayed cool throughout the race – even when his medium tyres went off in the opening stint, we were able to protect position and then take advantage of the rain. George shouldn’t be too hard on himself, either – he drove a nice first stint to have the opportunity to capitalise on the rain and then the conditions were just so tricky to drive, that a small mistake cost him quite dear."

If not for the mistake, the race in Monaco would have yielded a first podium for George Russell this season. The 2023 F1 season has not been the best for him considering how well things were last year.