As his team-mate Lewis Hamilton ended up pushing Max Verstappen hard for the race victory prior to his disqualification for an excessively worn plank, Russell had a much more low-key outing.

Having lost places at the start, he had a poor stint on the hards as fuel saving kicked in, before a switch to mediums and the all-clear to push triggered a recovery that helped him close down Verstappen by 10 seconds.

He eventually finished seventh, before getting promoted to fifth as a result of the post-race exclusions.

Reflecting on the outing, Russell believed the fuel factor hid what he felt was clear promise from the new floor on the W14.

“Definitely the upgrades were performing really well and I think that was clear with the performance,” he said. “We had some limitations on my side. I

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