Russell puts Barcelona performance in perspective: 'Neither is that here'

Although Russell still indicated after the free practice sessions that Mercedes is probably the third team on the grid, he was defeated over a fast lap by McLaren's Lando Norris. The Mercedes driver therefore slightly polished his earlier statements in a press statement from his team. Although P6 is not really a place to celebrate, the Briton does think that they got the maximum out of the car this Saturday.

Russell puts Mercedes spot in perspective

Hamilton's teammate puts last week's speed into perspective: "The team worked extremely hard just now to give us the best possible set-up, but we saw in Barcelona that our strengths were 'speed on the straight' and 'the fast corners'. You don't have both of those here in Monaco!" Objectively, then, Russell has grabbed the spot where the team should be as well.

Russell hopes to have a chance at a better result in the race than P6. If so, only help from the weather gods will have to come. Russell: "The way I see it, looking forward to tomorrow, I think, 'Bring on the rain!' Nobody knows how the tires are going to do in the wet, so then we just need to keep the car out of the wall, be there at the end and roll the dice as far as strategy is concerned."