Russell sees light at end of the tunnel: 'Race pace better than Ferrari'

George Russell believed his race pace was better than Ferrari during the Belgian Grand Prix. The British driver was pushing hard to try and pinch the final podium place from Carlos Sainz, but made a mistake with four laps remaining and lost time. 

Mixed day for Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton crashed on the opening lap of the race and damaged his car forcing a retirement. But Russell had a strong day out on track to take home fourth place despite being six-tenths behind Alpine in qualifying.  

"A bit of mixed feelings now because had you told me yesterday that I would be two seconds off the podium on merit and pure pace I would have told you it's a good recovery," Russell told Sky Sports. 

Speaking about his push for the podium Russell said: "I was like it's on now but I had 2 scruffy laps. Got the tyres out of the window. In F1, tyres is something we always speak of. When they are in the sweet spot they are transformed."

Over recent weeks, Mercedes have been improving throughout the season. Before the summer break, both drivers were on the podium and Russell even claimed a pole position. Ferrari managed to open up the gap again in the battle for second in the World Championship, but Russell is confident Mercedes are strong enough to beat the Italian team. 

"Definitely today our race pace was better than Ferrari. At worst we are equal than Ferrari today but Max is cruising away," he added.