George Russell impressed on the way to another podium finish – but still felt dissatisfied after the Italian Grand Prix.
Finishing in third place, as the Brit did, behind Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc would be enough to please most drivers. But Russell is not one of them, as after the race he spoke of how he wished he was able to get more from his W13.
"Unfortunately, this weekend we were not where we wanted to be as a team – but like I said on the radio, it doesn't matter if we are fast or slow, we keep getting these podium finishes," he said. "Over this triple header, two of the three weekends have been very difficult, and I've still come away with two podiums and a P4, so we've got to be satisfied with that.
"Looking at today's race, we had to do something different if we wanted to fight with Max and Charles, so we went for the hard tyre at the stop, but they were just too quick. That's all we could do in our position. Now we have some weeks to recharge, regroup as a team and prepare for the final part of this season, so we can take every opportunity that comes our way."
His team-mate Lewis Hamilton appeared more pleased with his result. That may be because the seven-time world champion took grid penalties that saw him start from 19th and make his way up to fifth be the end of the race, while Russell had started second but finished a place behind.
"This morning, the team said anywhere between sixth and fourth was possible," said Hamilton. "That always feels like a stretch when you're looking ahead at the race – but I had a lot of fun working my way to P5. The beginning was a struggle, with a heavy fuel load and the tyres overheating in traffic, but then we started to make progress as the race unfolded.
"At the end, we stayed out to keep the position on track and it might have been a tough battle if the race restarted, so I'm glad it finished the way it did! Overall, we knew this was going to be a tough weekend with the engine penalty, so I'm pleased to come away with a P5 finish and to have pulled everything out of the car."
And team boss Toto Wolff also acknowledged that things probably couldn't have been any better for his drivers on the day, adding: "We were clearly the third fastest team today, so third and fifth positions was probably the maximum we could expect.
"Although the gaps were not as big as in Spa, this was clearly a track that didn't suit us, so it was a question of maximising our result and doing damage limitation with Lewis. It was enjoyable to watch him fight through the pack – he looked a little bit stuck at the beginning, then once the tyres came together, he was very quick.
"As for George, he did everything we asked of him, and it was another faultless drive. Looking at the championship, we are 35 points behind with six races to go and we just need to do our best every single week and see where we land after Abu Dhabi. But we also know that our ultimate target was 30 seconds up the road today, and that is the real gap we need to catch up."
