Mercedes star George Russell finished on the podium at the 2025 Azerbaijan GP as a result of the Silver Arrows' strategy masterclass. The Briton's girlfriend, Carmen Mundt, took to Instagram and reacted to the Mercedes driver finishing P2 after the enthralling race on the streets of Baku.
George Russell qualified P5 for the 2025 Azerbaijan GP after an incident-filled and weather-affected Q3. First, Charles Leclerc crashed out in Q3, followed by Oscar Piastri. Amid this, the drizzle in the area hit the circuit and made life harder for the drivers.
Russell's teammate, Kimi Antonelli, qualified ahead of the Briton, with Max Verstappen taking the pole position. The Briton started the race on the hard tires, whereas the three drivers ahead of him opted for the medium tires. The Mercedes star was able to maintain the position after the initial laps.
While the medium runners, including Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson, and Kimi Antonelli, had to make an earlier stop, Russell went long into the first stint, overcut his rivals, and came out in P2 after his only stop. It was a short and stress-free final stint to the chequered flag.
However, coming into the Azerbaijan GP weekend, Mercedes reported that George Russell was under the weather, and he missed the Thursday media duties. Russell refrained from presenting himself in the paddock on Friday as well. It was later revealed that the Mercedes driver was suffering from a respiratory infection.
As George Russell finished P2, his girlfriend Carmen Montero Mundt took to Instagram, shared Mercedes' post about the Briton's podium in Baku on her story, and detailed how proud she is of her boyfriend, considering Russell has been battling the illness throughout the race weekend. The caption of the story read,
“P2 considering how ill you've been all weekend. Blows my mind!! Well done love 💙”

Russell’s Azerbaijan GP result guaranteed that he continued his Top 5 finishing streak since the Belgian GP.
George Russell, “relieved to see the chequered flag” as he battled with a respiratory infection at the Azerbaijan GP
Ted Kravitz came out after the qualifying and revealed that he's asked Mercedes about an update on George Russell's health, explaining that the Briton was not suffering from COVID, as some of the online speculations suggested, but some respiratory infection.
As Russell spoke on the F1TV during the post-race interview, he congratulated Carlos Sainz on his first podium with Williams, and was relieved that the race ended.
“Congrats to Carlos and Williams, a great result for them. A rough weekend for me personally, but glad to be back on the podium. I was pretty relieved to see the chequered flag to be honest, but I feel a bit better than I did on Friday,” said Russell
F1 takes a couple of weeks' hiatus before the Singapore GP, which should be enough time for Russell to fully recover from the illness.