Russell thought he was fighting for P6 during Monaco GP

George Russell has revealed that Williams gained hope in Monaco that it could achieve a points finish.

Russell pitted for hard tyres when a safety car was called following trouble for Charles Leclerc, who hit the barrier while trying to overtake Nico Hulkenberg.

The Briton also managed to slip past his teammate Robert Kubica when the Pole was hit by Antonio Giovinazzi at Rascasse and then caught up to a developing train led by Kimi Raikkonen.

MORE: Russell: 2019 not a write-off for Williams 

However, once the leaders began to pick up their pace, any hope of points diminished, with Russell eventually crossing the line in P15.

"It could have turned out even better," Russell said. "One of the guys was bunching everybody up in the pack and holding us up, unfortunately, but there was one point where we thought we were going to be ahead of Sainz in P6.

"From my side I was really happy with the race, we weren't really fighting for anything in the final half of the race but I wanted to treat it like we were, because I've got to test myself and put it on the limit so that when the time comes and we are fighting, I know what to expect.

"I was giving it everything out there and I think the times were fairly decent."

Russell 'maximised' the job at Monaco

Russell added that he has taken away a lot of confidence from the weekend, despite Williams still being off the pace compared to their rivals.

"I don't want to say we overperformed but I think we maximised the job," he said. "It was great to get so many laps under my belt, really pushing my limits.

"There was one point where my engineer came on the radio and said I was lapping at the same pace as the leader."