Why George Russell's mates didn't know he had missed out on a podium

George Russell rued his P5 finish in Monaco, claiming he missed out on an easy podium due to a driving error.

The Briton claims that since his mistake was not televised, a lot of his mates messaged him post-race, congratulating him for his fifth-place finish despite having lost out on a podium.

Both Mercedes drivers, Hamilton and Russell, fared decently well in Monte Carlo, having capitalized on Ferrari's dubious strategy in the closing stages of the race.

Russell was running particularly well and was convinced that he would have scored a podium had he not made an uncharacteristic error after pitting for intermediate tires.

The Briton locked up in the wet conditions before having to resort to a run-off area, causing him to lose out to the front runners. Speaking to the media after the race, George Russell said:

“I actually learned that my mistake wasn’t actually shown on television until a replay after the race. I don’t think it was actually clear to many people that we were effectively P3 on-track and lost it. So a lot of people were texting me saying well done for P5 not realising that I actually made a big mistake and cost us P3.”

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Mercedes boss expresses sympathy for George Russell

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff expressed his sympathy for his driver's mistake in Monaco, claiming George Russell should not be so hard on himself.

The Austrian exec was also heard talking to the former Williams driver on the radio during the race, urging Russell to calm down and focus on the task at hand.

Wolff told the media after the race:

"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."

The Silver Arrows introduced their much-anticipated sidepod update to the W14 in Monaco and has seemingly improved in form. However, the true test of the new upgrades will come next weekend, when the sport heads to Barcelona for the 2023 Spanish GP. Spain's track will allow the team to assess their progress in a much more accurate way as Monaco's track is often unpredictable.