For the first time this season, Williams Racing didn’t finish last in a grand prix, with fifteenth place George Russell describing the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix as a “really enjoyable race.”
Russell and team-mate Robert Kubica endured disparate experiences on the streets of Monaco, with the British rookie demonstrating vastly improved race pace, while the veteran Pole suffered contact and tyre management struggles.
“It was a really enjoyable race and I pushed myself to the limit,” said Russell. “Our pace was very strong, I got into the rhythm and my engineer came on the radio and said you are lapping the same pace as the leaders.
“We put in some good laps at the end and I was pleased with my performance.”
While Russell equalled his and Williams’ best result of the year, his team-mate Kubica finished eighteenth, ahead of Alfa Romeo Racing‘s Antonio Giovinazzi, the pair making mid-race contact.
“It was quite a long Grand Prix to manage the tyres and it was an unlucky race for me, but that’s just Monaco,” said Kubica. “The race started pretty well for us, when the Safety Car was deployed I thought that I was coming in, but that was not the case.
“Giovinazzi hit me at Rascasse so I lost a lot of time there, but that’s just how it is.”
Formula 1 heads next to Canada, scene of Kubica’s one and only grand prix victory with Williams the only team on the grid yet to score championship points.
