General
Russell warns: "It’s a recipe for disaster"
- GPblog.com
New regulations have been driven since this season and it hasn't worked out well for George Russell. The young Brit switched to Mercedes and now sees his team not seriously competing for the world title for the first time since 2013. Russell hopes that the regulations will be changed, although this is mainly for safety reasons.
The president of the drivers' union GPDA thinks the question is not if, but when a major crash in Formula 1 is going to happen. "It’s just a matter of time before we see a major incident, a lot of us can barely keep the car in a straight line over these bumps," Russell says to The Race and others.
The ground effect has returned to Formula 1 this season. This year, however, all cars are suffering from porpoising as a result, the considerable bouncing of the car at high speed. "Formula 2 is in the same position as well, they’ve got a similar philosophy, it’s unnecessary with the technology that we have in today’s environment, it seems unnecessary that we’re running an F1 car millimetres from the ground, and it’s a recipe for disaster."
Russell advocates for changes
Russell is going to push for changes to the regulations. "I don’t know what the future holds but I don’t think we can sustain this for three years or however long these regulations are in force for.” A very easy task that will not be, as he will also have to get the other drivers' teams behind his position.
Russell himself seems to be coping well with the new rules in the premier class of motorsport. The 24-year-old driver has been performing very consistently and is in fourth place in the world championship with 84 points. He has 34 points more than seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Twice this year he was on the podium, in Australia and Spain.