Why George Russell is taking “zero satisfaction” from Dutch GP despite top four finish

George Russell was unhappy with his performance at the Dutch Grand Prix despite coming away with fourth.

Russell lost out to Charles Leclerc on the opening lap after the Ferrari driver completed an impressive switchback manoeuvre.

The Mercedes driver managed to get back ahead after the timing of the Safety Car didn’t work in Leclerc’s favour.

Russell was caught napping at the VSC restart, losing out to Leclerc again, who pulled off an ambitious overtake.

The pair had contact, giving Russell damage as a result.

Russell eventually finished fourth, benefitting from Kimi Antonelli’s collision with Leclerc and Lando Norris’ DNF.

“I take zero satisfaction in finishing P4 after that race to be honest,” Russell said.

“It was a bad start, poor driving from my side. Then Charles passed me, then the pace was bad, then obviously the damage after the incident with Charles. Because of the damage I lost one second per lap, so it was just really not fun at all, and very lucky to finish in P4.”

Russell “lucky with everything”

Russell acknowledged that, unlike Leclerc, luck was entirely in his favour.

The British driver conceded that he hoped the first race back after the summer break was “more plain-sailing”.

“You hope when you return [from summer break] that it’s going to be a bit more plain sailing but Formula 1 is never like that. But it just wasn’t a good race in many regards, and we just need to look at that, why that was,” added Russell.

“But the fact is the gaps between a lot of the teams now are very tight, and when you come to a track like this where overtaking is very difficult, that track position is vital, Qualifying is important and the pit stop strategy is very important. Luck – you know, Charles was unlucky with the Safety Car timing, and we were lucky with everything else that happened.

“Yeah, I need a day to assess it.”