Russell struggled with weather conditions: "It's not wet, it's not dry"

George Russell will be glad he had his Mercedes contract in his pocket before the Turkish Grand Prix. The Briton had been battling with Valtteri Bottas for months for the second seat at Mercedes, a battle that Russell eventually won. But Bottas in particular drove one of the strongest races of his career in Istanbul, while Russell was caught out with a few mistakes.

Incredibly difficult

Russell is usually stronger on Saturdays than Sundays, but in Turkey the Williams driver was not flawless in qualifying either. A spin in Q2 saw him finish thirteenth while the speed was once again there for a better classification. For the first few laps of the race in Turkey, Russell also fell back two places and then failed to play any significant role.

According to Russell, he had a tough time with the rainy conditions. "It's incredibly difficult when you have to manage the tyres so well," he said when asked by Motorsport.com. "It's incredibly difficult to know how hard to push, especially when the tyres are wearing down to a slick and it's just not drying out."

"The track didn't dry up and even if it hadn't rained, it probably would have been wet for hours. That was a big challenge, so I don't think we did great, but not bad either. It wasn't easy. We've raced in these conditions twice now and both times we struggled," Russell said. "It could have been different, but overall the pace wasn't really there. Last year we struggled in these conditions. It's not wet, it's not dry, you're in no man's land so to speak."