Russell looked like benefitting from a slow stop for Alpine's Esteban Ocon and a late call to intermediates for Ferrari's Carlos Sainz to climb to third as rain hit the principality in the final third of the race.

But after his pitstop for intermediates on lap 55, Russell appeared to get distracted by a yellow flag for a lapped Lance Stroll and joined the Aston Martin driver up the Mirabeau escape road.

That not only dropped Russell behind Ocon and team-mate Lewis Hamilton , but as he re-joined the racing line he was hit by Red Bull's Sergio Perez , which cost the Briton a five-second penalty for an unsafe rejoin.

"I'm really kicking myself because P3 was almost guaranteed," Russell said when asked by Motorsport.com about his race.

"There was a yellow flag, I backed off and a

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