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.

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.

George Russell has avoided a penalty at the Bahrain Grand Prix after he was placed under investigation by the FIA's stewards. The Mercedes star finished the race in second, but was summoned to the stewards for an alleged breach of rules governing when DRS may and may not be used.