Russell blames Monaco 'software issue', adds it to long list of 'bad luck'

"The team said there was nothing I did wrong with the speeding in the pit lane, software issue. We don't know where from. Five-second penalty, not ideal, but not the end of the world. And then obviously the drive-through, not serving it properly when I was in P3. two weekends in a row, 40 points down the drain," Russell began to GPblog among others, after he did not score a single point at the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Briton was first hit with a five-second grid penalty for speeding in the pit lane, and then he did not serve his time penalty properly during his second stop, which led to a drive-through in Monte Carlo.

"I got the drive-through because there was a lot of confusion last minute. Then the FIA pulled the cars to the pit lane. I was asking the team whether to do my stop for my tyres was and I didn't get an answer. But I saw my set of tyres there. Everything just happened too quick and I guess the mechanic didn't get the message that I had to leave the car for five seconds. Then I was on the radio saying I'm willing to serve the penalty, as I had a 20-second gap to Gasly behind me. But the rules say, we didn't serve the penalty. And the punishment is for the driver. I've probably, with the software glitch, gained one tenth of a second in the whole pit lane. I've lost 13 positions," he said.

As a result, the Briton is now 68 points behind Kimi Antonelli in the standings, and also behind Lewis Hamilton, who finished second in Monaco. "[Saturday] was a bad day for me. I accept that. But the result of the last two races, I wish I could take some responsibility for the car breaking down in Canada or the penalties today. It's been completely outside of my control. And that is an incredibly difficult pill to swallow. I don't ever really believe in good luck or bad luck, but when I look at this season as a whole, leading the race in Canada, breakdown. Could have been on the podium today, zero points. Leading the race in Japan, safety car came out 10 seconds after a pit stop. There's not a lot, and the whole season could look totally different. Now I'm 68 points off the lead."

He continued: "I want to get racing now. The season hasn’t been disjointed. I still very much believe in myself. I know what I can do. I think we're not even 30% of the way through. But there's a lot of points down the drain. It's not been very enjoyable.

The Briton then concluded with saying that he very much believes in himself. "As I said, when I look at things objectively, things are balanced out a little bit more. I still think we've been very, very close [with Antonelli]. We've been doing an amazing job. But yeah, I think I'd have at least two more victories to my name."