George Russell took 18th at the close of the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom after the British driver endured a tough afternoon of running in the 10th round of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship.

A strong showing in qualifying one day earlier allowed George to start the 53-lap affair from 13th on the grid and with a strong getaway, the 22-year-old moved up to 11th, overtaking Charles Leclerc and Daniil Kvyat on the run to Turn 2.

Running three abreast, George was pushed wide into the right-hander and lost time as a result before two separate accidents for Carlos Sainz Jr and Lance Stroll led to the deployment of the safety car.

George and his Williams Racing team took this opportunity to pit, swapping the race-starting Medium tyres for a set of more durable Hards with the intention of running on this compound until the chequered flag.

A flat-spot shortly into this second stint prompted a second pit stop onto a fresh set of Mediums on lap 14, with this dropping George to 18th as he rejoined the race.

The British driver maintained this position before advancing to 17th on lap 42 when Romain Grosjean ran wide in Turn 2 and subsequently pitted.

A final pit stop on lap 50 guaranteed an 18th-placed finish for George, completing his final stint of the race on the Soft tyres.

George Russell – Williams Racing Driver

“It was a really tough day in the office with a lot of mistakes from my side. I was struggling with the tyres and couldn’t get them working. I have been struggling with the starts a lot this year and I needed to step it up in terms of my confidence, and that’s what I did. I made a really good start, but I was forced off as turn two is so tight. It was three abreast, and three into one doesn’t go. We have a lot to review and some interesting things to take away from this weekend, but ultimately the points are scored on Sunday and we were not good enough today.”

The 2020 Formula 1 World Championship will continue in at the Nurburgring on October 11 for the Eifel Grand Prix.