Russell aiming to cement "fair" Williams constructors' standing

George Russell has declared his ambition to secure what he believes would be a "fair" eighth-place finish for Williams in the constructors' championship.

In his 48th race with Williams last time out in Hungary, Russell finally scored his first points for the team when finishing eighth, a place behind team-mate Nicholas Latifi.

The 10 points in total have elevated Williams to eighth in the standings, seven ahead of Alfa Romeo, with Haas at the bottom after failing to score.

After three consecutive years of finishing at the foot of the standings, scoring just eight points over that period, Russell is keen to bring such a woeful streak to a close.

Speaking to GPFans Global ahead of his points finish, Russell said: "For me, I just want to have a really strong second half [of the season].

"I want to bring this team up to eighth in the constructors' because that's what I feel we've got a chance of fighting for. We don't deserve to finish last in the constructors' championship.

"If we finished eighth that would be fair. If we were to finish ninth, I think that'd also be fair."

In his first two years with Williams, Russell had come agonisingly close to breaking his points duck, most notably at Imola last season when he crashed whilst following the safety car.

"That's the nature of sport," Russell reflected. "Not always the best or the worst finish ahead of or behind the others. It's all to play for.

"Personally, I just want to go out there and make sure I get to the end of the season and say, 'I gave it everything I've got, and that was the maximum we could have given this season'."