Russell and Hamilton label Monaco GP as their best race in 2024

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were delighted with the performance of their car at the Monaco Grand Prix, claiming that the team has taken a step forward with the latest upgrades.

George Russell had a tough day on Friday as vibration hindered his opening day in Monaco. But he bounced back on Saturday to secure P5 on the grid.

The Briton elected to start on Pirelli's hard tyres, but the red flag on the first lap meant that he was forced to switch to the mediums for the restart. With the majority of the field opting against stopping during the rest of the race, Russell was forced to manage his tyres in the opening part to keep them in good shape for the closing stages of the grand prix.

Russell benefitted from Mercedes' latest upgrade which was a new front wing for Monaco. The Briton claimed that the Monaco round has been the best race for Mercedes performance-wise so far in 2024.

"That was the best race of our season so far. We had good pace and were able to show that near the end, despite being on 70-lap old Medium tyres. We were closing on the top four at the end and only finished a handful of seconds off P1. There are plenty of positives to take from the weekend as a whole.

"We spent a lot of time this morning going through all the strategy options. When we lined up on the grid, and everyone ahead was on the Medium compound, I was very happy. That looked even better when Carlos (Sainz) stopped on the opening lap.

"The red flag came out though and made our lives more difficult! I spent the first 30 laps taking it easy and in the end, I was able to keep the tyres in a good place and get to the end. Max (Verstappen) put me under a bit of pressure at the end but it was all pretty controlled," concluded Russell.

His team-mate Lewis Hamilton displayed an impressive pace across the practice sessions, but he slightly lost out in qualifying, taking only P7 on the grid. His strategy was identical to his Russell's, but Hamilton elected to pit for new tyre in the closing stages of the race to put Max Verstappen under pressure.

"There have been plenty of encouraging signs from our performance this weekend. The team has worked so hard to bring updates to the car and we’ve got more to come across the next few races. We have taken a step forward with the car and, if we can continue to make a few more, then we can hopefully get ourselves into the fight with the three teams ahead of us.

"The race today was non-eventful. Everyone was managing their pace after the red flag and ultimately, whatever tyre you were on, you could make it to the end. That took away our options of making forward progress which was frustrating. I’m looking forward to going to Canada and seeing what we can do there."