Russell says he and Mercedes need to improve after fortuitous British Grand Prix podium

[p]After struggling in the sprint race and qualifying, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]Russell[/a] seemed set to be in for another disappointing day on home turf with the Brit looking likely to finish fifth while teammate [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a] fought for the win in the closing stages.[/p][p]However, a mechanical issue for the Italian and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a]'s crash catapulted Russell to second, and he finished there to close the gap to his teammate in the title fight, crossing the line between the Ferraris of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a].[/p][p]Nevertheless, he had mixed emotions afterwards, telling his team on the radio after crossing the line that they needed to provide him with more straight-line speed going forward, and then admitting in the press conference that he also needed to improve his performances.[/p][p][b]"I don't really know how to sum it up, to be honest, because it's been a very challenging weekend," [/b]he said.[/p][p][b]"Things within my control not good enough, things outside of my control haven't been good enough, which has all resulted in poor pace."[/b][/p][embed guid="9091ce9a-bfa1-43ff-81a2-9730e0586a77" url="https://x.com/inforussellbr/status/2073805116885627023" social-type="twitter" /][p]Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff openly disagreed with Russell on the team radio after the race, saying straight-line speed hadn't been an issue, but the driver didn't respond to that, instead reiterating the need for improvement from all sides.[/p][p]"Well, the feeling was good, but the lap times were slow," he added in the press conference.[/p][p][b]"And as I said, there were things outside of my control that contributed a lot towards that, and things in my control. I'm still struggling to understand this car...[/b][/p][p][b]"If I want to fight for the championship, the performances need to be better. I need to be better. I need to be working better with my team. We need to be maximising everything."[/b][/p]