Formula 1 season finishes for George Russell in the last race at Abu Dhabi

George Russell wants to take away many positives from this season despite another uninspiring performance in the last race at Abu Dhabi.

Russell rounded off the season and his last race with Lewis Hamilton as a Mercedes team-mate by taking his 12th top five finish of the season.

The weekend did not start smoothly for the driver from Tydd St Giles as in two of the three practice sessions Russell failed to make the top-five in an indication of what was to come in qualifying.

Russell failed to make an impression on the top 10 in the opening session and was on the edge of not making it through to the final stage.

Alas, Russell proceeded to the top 10 shootout but was evidently off the pace and could only manage to set a time good enough for seventh.

However, Nico Hulkenberg - who had qualified fourth - received a three-place grid penalty which promoted Russell one spot up the order.

Starting on the medium tyres alongside Pierre Gasly, Russell made up a couple of places due to chaos up ahead but settled down in fourth in the early stages of the race as he failed to pass the Frenchman.

On lap 27, Russell switched to the hard tyre and emerged in seventh, however, a strong overtake on Gasly and other drivers making their pit stops promoted him to fourth.

It looked as if Russell would cross the line in fourth but Hamilton was mounting a charge against his team-mate and, in a show of Mercedes solidarity, the 26-year-old put up little fight.

A fifth place finish secured Russell sixth spot in the drivers' championship, an improvement on last season where he came eighth.

The year marked Russell's best season for Mercedes as, although he scored more points in 2022, the Briton added two more race wins and three pole positions to his tally.

He said: "I just didn’t have the pace to compete for more than fourth place.

"I've not had the speed all weekend and it is a shame to end the season like that. We need to go away and understand why that was. That said, there are many positives we can take away from the season.

"We have got back to winning races and, on occasions, have been competing right at the front on merit.

"We know there is more we need to do to compete for championships but we are all determined to make progress and do so next year."

The 2025 Formula One season commences on March 14-16 at the Australian Grand Prix.