BUDAPEST, July 23 (Reuters) - George Russell believes Mercedes have fixed the issue that was slowing his car and he has come out of the situation mentally stronger.
The Briton raged over the team radio after losing straight-line speed during the opening lap of last Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix and then retiring in the gravel following a collision with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.
Pre-season favourite Russell is now third overall and 50 points adrift of championship-leading teammate Kimi Antonelli after 10 rounds, with the 19-year-old Italian soaring high after six victories.
Speaking to British reporters ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Russell said the situation reminded him of his F2 title-winning campaign "where it felt like one thing after another and you bounce back and then you get knocked down again.
"Three days later I'm feeling good and glad there are some positive answers that have come back from the factory and it's eyes forward now."
SOMETHING IN THE CALIBRATION OF THE CODE
Asked what the problem was, Russell said the new power units were exceptionally complex and still to be fully understood.
"There was just something deeply embedded in the calibration of the code that... I mean, it was almost impossible to see unless you knew exactly what to look for. So yeah, I'm glad we have found it.
"Of course it's a bit frustrating to have what happened on Sunday but I'm just looking forward now and that's how the game goes."
Pressed further on whether he was 100% confident the problem had gone and would not come back, he replied: "It's numbers on a computer screen, really.
"And it has been infinitely harder for the team to understand that with these new regs and some different regulation changes and less sensors in certain places."
Russell pointed out that despite his Belgian blank, he was still closer to Antonelli than he had been after Monaco in June when the gap between them had ballooned to 68 points.
With 10 rounds done, there was also still more than half a season to go.
The 28-year-old said the car problems had been a distraction, spending a lot of time trying to change his driving style rather than just focusing on going fast and building momentum.
"I definitely feel this is the most resilient I've ever been in my whole life," he said. "So I take pride in that as my mentality outside of the car."
He also recognised his expletive-laden radio rant could have been better phrased but it reflected the heat of the moment.
"The whole team is standing by me and vice versa," he added. "I felt quite vocal about this issue pre-Spa and during Spa and ultimately we have achieved what we wanted to in the sense of finding there was an issue."
(Reporting by Alan BaldwinEditing by Toby Davis)
