Russell: We'll take the positives from a strange weekend

The Mercedes driver secured a sixth podium of 2025 with an assured 70 laps around the Hungaroring, snatching third place from an ailing Charles Leclerc with just a handful of laps remaining in the race.

Starting from fourth on the grid, Russell got off the line well to streak past the McLaren of Lando Norris on the opening lap. While the Briton showed good pace in his opening stint, he could keep the charging Norris at bay for long.

The 27-year-old looked set for a P4 finish until Leclerc starting suffering from issues with his Ferrari's chassis, causing the latter to lose significant performance.

Russell darted up the inside of Leclerc into the first corner on lap 63 and made it through for third place despite a late change of direction from the Monegasque. Leclerc received a five second penalty for "driving erratically", as the race stewards aptly put it.

A place on the podium was an unexpected but welcome surprise for Russell, who reflected on his performance on Sunday.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the Grand Prix, Russell expressed delight at his P3 finish at the Hungaroring.

He said: "Really pleased with the result. Strange weekend, if you exclude McLaren and you look at the order from P3 to P13 it’s quite odd.

"You wouldn’t expect Max to be so far down, Aston Martin had an incredible weekend. We’ll take the positives but we won’t get carried away with it," stated Russell.

The British driver admitted that McLaren, who finished one-two in the race, are still the dominant force in 2025 and will be difficult to catch for the rest of the season.

He continued: "There was a lot going on at the start and once I got past Lando I wanted to block him to get Fernando through because I knew Lando would be too quick but that lasted for a lap.

"I was happy to keep Lando at bay for the first stint but those guys are doing a great job and are head and shoulders above everyone else week in week out.

"I don’t think that’s going to change much because everyone is so focused on 2026. Our goal is to be best of the rest," Russell concluded.

Formula 1 will return in four weeks' time for the Dutch Grand Prix, which commences Sunday 31 August at 14:00 BST (15:00 local time).