George Russell fought through the field in the fourth round of the 2020 Formula 1 World Championship to secure his best result of the season so far at the British Grand Prix.

In qualifying for his home event, George secured 15th after delivering Williams Racing with a third consecutive Q2 appearance, however, after receiving a five-place grid penalty, the Briton lined up in 20th on the grid.

A non-start for Nico Hulkenberg immediately promoted George to 19th when the 52-lap affair got underway and by the end of the opening tour, the 22-year-old had advanced to 17th after overtaking team-mate Nicholas Latifi and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.

Following a short safety car period for Magnussen, the race was once more resumed, however, by lap 12, the on-track battle was again paused with another yellow-flag spell, this time for AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat who crashed in Turn 11.

Spying a strategic opportunity, George swapped his race-starting Medium tyres for a set of the Hard compound on lap 12, allowing him to run until the wave of the chequered flag without having to stop again.

This momentary trip through the pit lane saw George re-join the race in 15th – a position that would soon become 14th when Romain Grosjean pitted in the second Haas car on lap 36.

Holding the position with team-mate Latifi directly behind, George next inherited 13th following a puncture for McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr on the penultimate lap, advancing to 12th at the close of the race as a result of a penalty for Antonio Giovinazzi.

George Russell – Williams Racing Driver

“This was the first race where we have been pretty fast, and our Sunday pace matched our Saturday, so that is positive. We have put a lot of effort in to focus on our pace today, so we are going in the right direction. After the Safety Car, the car felt strong. I managed to overtake Kimi (Raikkonen) and I caught Antonio (Giovinazzi). If we can maintain a good qualifying position ahead of the Alfa Romeos and the Haas’ there’s no reason we can’t stay there on merit on a Sunday.”

George will again race at Silverstone next weekend for Formula 1’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix where another 52 laps will be raced around the historic Northamptonshire circuit.