As the Bahrain Grand Prix unfolded and George Russell raced in second place, messages slowly came through on his radio that different systems were failing. Team principal Toto Wolff put it simply: “The car was wounded.

He needed to make a 25-lap stint on a set of soft tires work despite high levels of tire degradation. He also needed to do all of that while experiencing multiple mechanical failures on his W16 over the final stretch of the race.

George Russell has avoided a penalty at the Bahrain Grand Prix over a DRS infringement, meaning he holds onto his second-placed finish. The Mercedes driver drove brilliantly in Sakhir to finish on the podium ahead of Lando Norris,