After struggling in the sprint race and qualifying, Russell seemed set to be in for another disappointing day on home turf with the Brit looking likely to finish fifth while teammate Kimi Antonelli fought for the win in the closing stages.
However, a mechanical issue for the Italian and Max Verstappen's crash catapulted Russell to second, and he finished there to close the gap to his teammate in the title fight, crossing the line between the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Nevertheless, he had mixed emotions afterwards, telling his team on the radio after crossing the line that they needed to provide him with more straight-line speed going forward, and then admitting in the press conference that he also needed to improve his performances.
"I don't really know how to sum it up, to be honest, because it's been a very challenging weekend," he said.
"Things within my control not good enough, things outside of my control haven't been good enough, which has all resulted in poor pace."
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff openly disagreed with Russell on the team radio after the race, saying straight-line speed hadn't been an issue, but the driver didn't respond to that, instead reiterating the need for improvement from all sides.
"Well, the feeling was good, but the lap times were slow," he added in the press conference.
"And as I said, there were things outside of my control that contributed a lot towards that, and things in my control. I'm still struggling to understand this car...
"If I want to fight for the championship, the performances need to be better. I need to be better. I need to be working better with my team. We need to be maximising everything."
