Best GP finish for ex-Wisbech student George Russell

The 24 year-old is the teammate of multiple world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes this season so big things are expected of the highly-rated driver.

But Mercedes appear to be a little off the pace of other teams at the start of the season and a fourth-placed finish for Russell in Bahrain was fortunate as it took two late blow-ups for him to move up the standings. He finished a place behind Hamilton with the teammates taking advantage of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez pulling out in the closing stages.

It was a famous one-two for Ferrari though with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finishing ahead of the Mercedes pair after a dramatic race.

Russell said: “I’m pleased with the performance. We had a good first lap, good start and made up positions, but we recognise we’re a long way from where we want to be.

"We are quite draggy but this bouncing we’re experiencing down the straight is going to slow you down because we’re smashing into the ground rather than going forwards.

"I think the lap time deficit we have is 50% in the straight and 50% in the corners.

"It offers a glimmer of hope. We believe we can solve the issue but we don’t know how long it’s going to take. It might be next weekend or it might not be until after.

Russell had started ninth on the grid after a disappointing qualifying session. The second Grand Prix of the season takes place in Saudi Arabia next weekend.