Russell: I was very happy when I saw the checkered flag.
Mercedes drivers delivered a confident performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix — George Russell finished second, and Kimi Antonelli battled Carlos Sainz for a podium spot but finished the race in Baku fourth. That result allowed Mercedes to move up to second place in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Ferrari.
George Russell (2nd): "First of all, I congratulate Carlos and Williams. For them this is an amazing result.
We are very happy to be back on the podium. Personally, the race weekend was tough for me (due to a cold), but the car handled brilliantly. Kimi finished fourth, and I'm happy for him.
I admit I was very relieved when I saw the chequered flag. Fortunately, today I feel much better than on Friday and Saturday. Now I want to rest a little, but I'm very pleased with the result.
Our team is striving to overtake Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, and today we took a good step forward in that direction."
Kimi Antonelli (4th): "George, Carlos and Max deserved the podium. I also hoped for a podium, especially on the final stint on the Hard tyres. I did everything I could and nearly got into DRS range behind Carlos, but then I started to have problems in the 'dirty' air.
Nonetheless, fourth place is a good result after a difficult European part of the season. I needed a weekend like this, one where everything came together. Of course, I feel some disappointment, but I'll try to perform better at the next round in Singapore.
The main thing is that I had the pace, although I lost quite a lot of time on the Medium tyres. But at the finish I was only about five seconds behind George. I had no room for error, and my pace and lap-time consistency were much better than in Monza."
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Russell: I was very happy when I saw the checkered flag.
George Russell finished second, while Kimi Antonelli battled Carlos Sainz for a place on the podium but finished the Baku race in fourth. That result allowed Mercedes to move up to second place in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Ferrari.