Mercedes knows why Russell was involved in first lap crash

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' Trackside Engineering Director, commented: "Lewis on the other had a great start moving to 3rd so it was a shame that he was put back into fifth for the restart from where we dropped a further position. Even so, there were plenty of times where it looked like we might be able to get back into the fight for the win but sadly it was not to be."

Russell had finished in the top five every weekend until the British GP, but his DNF has now ended that run. Where the majority of the field left on mediums when the lights went out, Mercedes chose to try something different with Russell by sending him off on hard tyres. That didn't work out well.

"George's race didn't last long. We knew the hard tyre would be a risk but didn't anticipate us losing so much ground off the line. That clearly was the contributing factor in George being part of the accident at the start which ended his race," said Shovlin. "But at least no one was hurt."

Mercedes leaves Silverstone with fifteen World Championship points. It could have been a lot more. "On one had its frustrating to only come away with a third place as with two cars and a bit more luck we could have been fighting for the win and a good haul of points. On the other hand, we can be pleased that we were fighting at the front after a very tough start to our season