Watch: George Russell's mistake that cost him a podium at the 2023 F1 Monaco GP

George Russell had a fairly decent race in the 2023 F1 Monaco GP. However, he could have stood on the podium had he not made the mistake of going off at turn five, losing positions to Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton, and even rejoining the track unsafely.

The race in the Principality was anything but smooth. The rain started pouring down in the middle of the race, causing drivers to race on slippery, dry tires before pitting for intermediate tires.

Russell was running in third position for a good chunk of the race when the downpour started. Luckily, Mercedes had a brilliant strategy where they pitted the Brit just before Esteban Ocon so that they could secure the third position in the race.

However, right after George Russell came out of the pits on the intermediate tires on lap 55, he accidentally went off down the escape road at turn five. This cost him dearly, as both Ocon and Hamilton overtook him.

Furthermore, while exiting the escape road, he rejoined the track in an unsafe manner and came in front of Sergio Perez. Checo was unable to brake in time and accidentally hit the Mercedes from the side.

Race control noted the incident and handed Russell a five-second penalty for unsafely rejoining the circuit. At this point, he had already lost the podium position and was trying to keep enough of a gap on Charles Leclerc to secure the fifth position in the race.

Thankfully for the Mercedes driver, Leclerc was not able to close the gap. However, if Russel had not made a mistake on lap 55, he could have bagged another podium.

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George Russell on the mistake he made in the 2023 F1 Monaco GP

After the Monaco GP, George Russell explained how he made the mistake of locking up the brakes and going off at turn five. He admitted that a podium finish was on the cards for him had he not made the mistake.

Talking to Sky Sports after the race, he 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."

"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 finished fifth in the race, behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon, who stood on the podium.