Russell: I felt very bad on Friday and Saturday.

      As late as Friday George Russell wasn't sure he would be able to get behind the wheel because of illness, and on Sunday he finished second...

      Question: George, great race. What was the key to success?

      George Russell: Probably the fact that I managed to avoid trouble. To be honest, I don't think we had an especially great weekend. Carlos did an amazing job, Liam was excellent in qualifying and beat us, but our usual rivals made mistakes or had off results, so we weren't fighting with them.

      Of course I'm very happy to finish second given the circumstances. The cool weather helped a bit as well. It's great that this time we were able to take advantage of all those factors.

      Question: Is your car more competitive in the race or in qualifying at the moment?

      George Russell: It depends a lot on the track. This weekend the conditions and the circuit layout suited our car. It will be harder in Singapore. But the results are very close and overtaking is not easy. It seems anyone can put together an amazing lap and finish high up. It's great to see drivers like Carlos, Hulkenberg and Hajar on the podium this season.

      Question: You arrived in Baku ill, and you still sound hoarse. How physically tough was it to compete?

      George Russell: Luckily, it's Baku. The layout of this circuit is tricky, but physically this race is one of the easier ones. On Friday and Saturday I felt really bad; on race day I felt much better.

      You know, if it had been Singapore, to be honest I would have withdrawn on Friday. We're lucky it's Baku. I hadn't been sick for a couple of years, and now it all came on at once. But I'm already getting better.

      Question: Mercedes are currently second in the Constructors' Championship, four points ahead of Ferrari. How do you think things will develop over the remaining seven races?

      George Russell: Things change quickly. On Friday the Ferraris looked incredibly quick in Baku; in past years Leclerc has started here from pole four times — they could easily have filled the entire front row, and given how hard it is to overtake here, they would have taken a 1-2. But they had a poor qualifying and we scored 30 points. Nobody knows what's coming next.