George Russell was left surprised after his podium finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, but tempered Mercedes' expectations for the rest of the season. (More Motorsport News)
Russell, who started fifth on the grid in Baku, inherited third place on the penultimate lap of proceedings after Sergio Perez's collision with Carlos Sainz.
The Briton claimed his third podium for Mercedes this season, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton made it double points for the Silver Arrows after finishing ninth.
Russell moved level with Red Bull's Perez in the drivers' championship and is now 23 points behind Hamilton ahead of the final seven races.
However, Russell acknowledged where Mercedes ranked in the pecking order at the end of a tricky weekend that saw the team complete two power unit changes.
바카라Definitely surprised,바카라 Russell said about his podium finish. 바카라I think there was so much hard work this weekend for everybody in the team.
"There were engine changes on my side, engine changes for Lewis, so much going on, everybody was working so hard.
바카라We had a really bad start to the race. I was dropping off a lot, but on the hard tyre I think we were one of the quickest out there and that was great.
"Got past Max, so an added bonus to stand on the podium.
바카라I mean we바카라ve got to be realistic still. We should바카라ve finished fifth today. That was the true result.
"Obviously, with Lando [Norris바카라] qualifying yesterday, he probably would바카라ve been up there as well, so I don바카라t want to get carried away with ourselves with this podium today.
"We바카라ve got a lot of work to do. Hopefully, Singapore바카라s a slightly better weekend.바카라
As for Hamilton, having taken on a raft of new power unit components after qualifying, he was resigned to a long afternoon after his pit lane start.
He made up plenty of ground early on, and again after his pit stop, but spent much of the latter part of the race battling Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman.
Colapinto impressed in just his second race for Williams, scoring four points after finishing in eighth, while team-mate Alex Albon finished one place in front.
And Bearman, who replaced the suspended Kevin Magnussen for Haas, completed the top 10, which came with a record-breaking achievement.
The 19-year-old became the first driver to score points for two different teams in his first two Formula One races, having made his debut in March for Ferrari as a last-minute replacement for Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, finishing in seventh.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton showered praise on the two rookies after the race, with the Briton, who will be replaced by youngster Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes next season, insisting the future is bright for the sport.
바카라Today was a difficult race,바카라 Hamilton said.
"바카라We had a good day on Friday, but the rest of the weekend was tough. We made some changes heading into Saturday that didn바카라t work out, but we had to live with them.
바카라We also knew it would be challenging to overtake today. Despite the long straight, it is hard to follow through the second sector.
"Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman, who I was racing for a lot of the afternoon, did such a great job.
"It is great to see the youngsters like them coming through and doing so well. For their first and second races, it was very impressive.바카라
