Russell says Mercedes must find more performance after Singapore recovery

After starting 19th and finishing ninth in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, George Russell said Mercedes' main task was to work out how to find more performance. He described Red Bull's performance over the previous three weeks as very impressive across three very different circuits.

Russell said his first stint brought good progress, but Nico Hulkenberg defended well in the second. A pitstop under the Virtual Safety Car might have helped, but the VSC ended as Russell was at the pit entry. He said five, 10 or 20 seconds more would have helped, although he would not lose sleep over it.

Toto Wolff said dirty air at Marina Bay cost Russell downforce when he caught cars ahead, making overtaking difficult. At one stage, Wolff estimated, Russell was probably about 1.5 seconds faster than the cars in front. Wolff called seventh the best-case result and said Mercedes had to be happy with ninth in a damage-limitation race after Russell started from the back.