Russell has confidence in Mercedes Imola upgrades: 'In the right direction'

George Russell reported he's feeling "pumped" after demonstrating impressive race pace during the Miami Grand Prix and worked his way up to P4. The Mercedes driver ensured that he beat both Ferrari drivers to bring home good points for the team. Combined with Lewis Hamilton's P6, Mercedes ensured they stayed ahead of Ferrari in the World Championship.

Mercedes struggled during qualifying. At one point, they were both in danger of dropping out in Q1, and Lewis Hamilton failed to reach Q3. But with the stronger race pace, they were able to work their way through the field. Russell felt this on the track as well.

"Feeling pumped, to be honest. It feels like a while since we had a race like that where we made some good overtakes stick. The pace, relatively speaking, was good," Russell told Sky Sports.

Mercedes want to push further ahead of Ferrari and try to close the gap on Red Bull. In two weeks, Formula 1 returns to Europe, where the first big batch of upgrades are expected. A lot of the focus is on Mercedes in Imola, and Russell acknowledged this.

"There is a lot of expectation on Imola, and today we finished 30 odd seconds behind the leaders today. We still finished quite a bit behind Fernando Alonso, but we are sure it [upgrades] will take us on a step in the right direction. Hopefully, it exceeds our expectations," Russell concluded.