Arriving for the FIA press conference soaking wet, George Russell revealed he did not celebrate his Las Vegas win by jumping into the Bellagio fountain as he feared another bout of pneumonia.

Russell clinched his third F1 victory under the lights of Sin City on Saturday night, racing from pole position to the chequered flag.

George Russell won the Las Vegas GP in a Mercedes 1-2

Racing unchallenged barring a two-corner attack by Charles Leclerc early in the race, Russell led home a Mercedes 1-2, seven seconds up on his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

The only thing likely to rival his screams of joy could be the party he intends to have before heading home.

“It’s going to be a good party,” he said. “So I was planning on flying in a couple of hours, but I’m definitely not getting on that flight. And I’m going to enjoy this evening with all my team.

“It’s been a dream of a weekend. I don’t know how we’ve been so quick, but I’m just riding this wave right now.”

But one celebration he won’t be partaking in is jumping into the world-renowned Bellagio fountain.

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Although he did arrive at the post-race press conference in wet clothing, he revealed that was all champagne and not water as he wanted to avoid a repeat of last year’s pneumonia.

“No, I really wanted to do it,” he said of the fountain experience, “but I was so cold after the race, I thought, like, I’m going to get super ill and this time last year I actually caught pneumonia and I was ill all the way into mid-February after Vegas and Abu Dhabi.

“So I was like, you know, in the moment I really wanted to do it, but then I was thinking back to the struggles I had this time 12 months ago because it’s such a toll on the body.

“It’s from all the champagne, to be honest, why I was soaking wet.”

Mercedes 1-2 in Las Vegas came at somewhat of a surprise given the team’s recent struggled. Although they were in race-winning form ahead of the summer break, after Formula 1’s return they managed just one podium before Saturday night’s double.

“It’s been a real surprise seeing how strong our pace has been and securing the pole yesterday I was so pleased with,” admitted Russell. “And then I think we won the race in stint one. To be honest, stint one was exceptional.

“And I knew from there on in the only way we would probably lose the victory is if I grained the tyres and opened them up. So it was just a case of managing my pace, managing in the right corners and bringing it home.”

Mercedes will finish the season fourth in the Constructors’ Championship as they cannot catch Red Bull in third, nor can Aston Martin challenge them for fourth.

Read next: The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the Las Vegas GP