F1MATHS: Russell set the quickest race lap for the second time in 2025

On the back of a series of tough races in recent weeks, Mercedes driver George Russell bounced back at last Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix to grab a podium finish with a third place. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reveals what the four-time Grand Prix winner achieved on his way to his sixth podium finish of the season.

Last Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix was the last Formula 1 race before the summer break. Although Mercedes looked to struggle for pace across the practice sessions of the weekend, their cars came alive in the constantly-changing weather conditions in qualifying.

Their rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli displayed strong pace in Q1, but his performance faded when the track surface became fractionally damp in Q2.

However, his team-mate George Russell went on to fight for pole position, and he only missed out on the first starting position by 0.053 seconds and had to content himself with fourth on the grid behind Charles Leclerc.

At the start of the race, Russell overtook Lando Norris into Turn 1, and he managed to stay with the drivers at the sharp end of the field. Although the Mercedes man start to lose connection to the first three drivers - Leclerc, Piastri and Norris -, the Monegasque suffered technical issues during his last stint of the 70-lap Mogyoród race.

After his second pit stop on lap 43, Russell set off in pursuit of Leclerc, who was managing some sort of technical problems. On his first flying lap (45), he set the Fastest Lap with a time of 1:19.409 minutes.

On lap 62 of 70, Russell passed Leclerc to secure a podium finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Russell was delighted with his sixth Top Three finish of the season: “This whole weekend has been a bit surprising for everyone, but I’m so happy to be back on the podium.”