George Russell has revealed that he realised his British Grand Prix was soon to conclude 10 laps prior to his retirement due to a water system failure.
The Briton led the opening stages from pole position but was overtaken by team-mate Lewis Hamilton when rain started to fall on lap 18.
Russell slowed significantly when the first shower hit Silverstone, as he was the first driver to reach the wet parts of the circuit.
In the end, losing the lead to Hamilton was irrelevant, as Russell was called into the pits by Mercedes to retire from the race on lap 34 due to the system failure.
"Yeah, it's always difficult when you're first out there," Russell told select media including RacingNews365.
"I knew it was going to be a long race and I sort of wanted to be patient.
"We were still in the fight, but 10 laps before the failure I knew I had a problem because I was losing power, and then had a water failure. No water to the engine."
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The specific moment Russell started losing power was when he exited the pits after pitting for intermediate tyres on lap 27.
Being the second car in the double-stack behind Hamilton did not overly concern Russell, although he knew the race was done the moment he left the pit lane.
"I wasn't too worried because it's a long race but as soon as I went back out I was losing power, so I knew from that point on the race was gone," he said.
Despite Russell retiring, Mercedes looked exceptional throughout the British GP, with Hamilton claiming his first win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Unlike in Austria, Mercedes secured victory on merit, as the W15 was effective in all conditions, as Russell praised his team-mate, although acknowledged the hurt.
"It's incredible. Lewis taking the win, but we had the car, in normal dry circumstances to be one-two," Russell pointed out.
"We're clearly back and I think we'll be fighting for race wins more often now.
"Within myself in the car, I've been feeling good. Obviously, this is a real blow, retiring from any race, never mind your home grand prix when you have the car to win, but we'll have another go."
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