Russell: Bringing the car home in P2 is mega

Russell suffered from brake issues as well as problems with the transponder, which meant his track location was not known at certain points, which meant he could not even use the DRS, which got him in hot water with the stewards after it appeared he used the DRS manually when he shouldn't have.

However, the Briton escaped the penalty and took his third podium in the 2025 Formula 1 season.

"That was a really challenging race," Russell said in the Mercedes race report. "We had some problems in the last 12 laps including a brake-by-wire failure.

"When I was hitting the brakes, the pedal was inconsistent, and I had to do some resets for it to work properly again. For 10 laps in a row, going into every corner, I didn't know whether it would be giving me the same feeling or not.

"It definitely compromised the race, but at the end of the day, bringing the car home in P2 is mega," he maintained.

Reflecting on the other issues that marred his race, Russell continued: "The brake-by-wire failure wasn't the only technical challenge we were dealing with either!

"There were all sorts of issues going on with the transponder and the signals going to the car. That meant that we had to manually override the DRS.

"At one point, I hit the radio button and saw that the DRS was open. I closed it immediately and lifted off the throttle, so we actually gave up time.

"Happily, the stewards agreed that no sporting advantage was gained. All of those issues compromised that last stint but the main thing is we leave here with another podium and more solid points scored," Russell concluded.

Kimi Antonelli, in the sister car, finished 11th despite starting from fifth on the grid. He commented: "That was a difficult race for me today.

"Being stuck in the dirty air behind several cars played a major role in stalling any progress I was able to make. I pushed hard on my out laps to try and regain track position but then I likely took a little too much out of the tyres.

"We tried to do something different by switching to the three-stop strategy, but the Safety Car came out shortly after and that took the opportunity away.

"We will review the whole race and see if there are things we could have done differently, but there are definitely still positives we can take away. Qualifying was another good step forwards for me and I felt more and more comfortable racing wheel-to-wheel with others today.

"Of course, P11 is never the result we are hoping for, but we will have a couple of days off and come back stronger in Jeddah next weekend," Antonelli concluded.

Summing up his team's Bahrain Grand Prix, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said: "Today's race was a challenging one to manage. You could see how quickly it was possible to go from a very good result to a bad one.

"For George, he did a tremendous job. He definitely saved the podium for the team," the Austrian said of Russell's achievement. "He suffered a brake-by-wire failure and was having to manage brake pedal pressure that was changing from corner to corner.

"To do that without losing any time was amazing. He also nurtured the Soft tyres well in that final stint, was fast when it mattered and defended in all the right places to maximise the result.

"For Kimi, today's race was one of learning," the Mercedes boss went on. "We opted to take a risk with the strategy but in hindsight, we may have been better putting him on the Hard tyre. He also lost positions in his opening two stints which caused him to push the tyres harder than he would have liked.

"That is all part of the normal learning trajectory though and he will bounce back next week in Saudi Arabia," Wolff claimed.

"We therefore leave Bahrain with mixed feelings," he said. "With its abrasive asphalt and high track temperatures, we didn't come into the weekend with high hopes.

"To be taking away a podium in P2 is therefore encouraging. There is more work to do to be in the fight for victory at each race though and we will continue to push hard," Wolff concluded.