Russell “gutted” issue ruins chance of first Williams points in “brutal” F1

Russell was running inside the top eight at the Styrian Grand Prix having started in tenth, moving up two places thanks to Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly’s opening lap collision.

Williams called Russell in early on Lap 25 after it noticed his car was suffering a loss of air from the pneumatic system.

A lengthy pit stop was forced upon Russell as his mechanics topped up the system.

A few laps later, Russell was forced to retire from the race.

Without the issue, the Mercedes-backed driver reckons points were a guarantee given he was running right behind Fernando Alonso, who finished ninth.

“I’m just gutted for the team to be honest, they’ve worked so hard to be in this position over the last three years, chasing these points,” Russell said. “We never really knew when they would come and we knew we would have to have a perfect weekend.

“We were such a great position, P8 on the Medium tyre, we would have been able to pounce at the end. I think P7 was probably possible, ahead of Alonso. Four or six points is massive, probably the difference between P8 and P10 in the championship. We go again next week.”

Reflecting on his impressive race pace during the first stint at the Red Bull, Russell wasn’t surprised he was able to run within DRS range of Alonso in seventh.

“I wasn’t surprised to be honest, because I know we’ve done some really great work recently to improve the car, and I knew the pace on Friday was strong. I was obviously on the mediums compared to the guys ahead on the softs,” Russell added.

“I was driving my heart out, driving as fast as I could to keep behind a Ferrari, AlphaTauri, McLaren. We’re not normally in this position, we need to be proud of the job we did. Racing is just brutal.”