George Russell was under no illusions about Mercedes' position in the pecking order during a weekend that saw the team make not one but two engine changes.
“I was definitely surprised,” Russell said of his podium finish. “I think it was a really hard weekend for everyone in the team. There were engine changes on my part, engine changes on Lewis’ part, there was a lot going on, and everyone was working hard.”
“We started the race really badly, I was down a lot, but on the hard tyres I think we were among the quickest and that's great. I overtook Max, so it's an added bonus to be on the podium.
“I mean we still have to be realistic. We should have finished fifth today, that would have been the real result. Obviously if Lando hadn’t qualified yesterday, he would probably have been there, so I don’t want to overstate the podium today. We have a lot to do. Hopefully the weekend in Singapore will be a little bit better.”
Hamilton, after changing his engine after qualifying, had to start from the pit lane. He recovered well, but in the second half of the race he had to fight against newcomers Franco Colapinto and Oliver Permane.
“It was a tough race today,” said Hamilton. “We had a good day on Friday, but the rest of the weekend was tough. We made a change on Saturday, which didn't work, but we had to live with it.”
“We also knew it would be difficult to overtake today. Even though the straight is long, it is difficult to follow the others in sector two. Franco Colapinto and Oliver Biermann, who I raced with all afternoon, did a great job. It is great to see young guys like them doing so well. In the first and second races, it was very impressive.”
Hamilton shook hands with both rookies immediately after the race and described it as “really cool” to be racing with the next generation.
