Russell has responsibility for track position sacrifice: 'I pushed for it'
F1 News
George Russell finished third in the Canadian Grand Prix but believes he could've fought Max Verstappen for the victory had mistakes been avoided. In the final safety car period, Mercedes sacrificed track position for medium tyres, and Russell wants to assess this call. He also suggests the Mercedes performance this weekend wasn't a surprise but wants to wait for Barcelona before confirmation of their return.
Russell explains Mercedes decision making
Mercedes' decision to pit meant he lost track position to Oscar Piastri. In the end, this meant Russell had to fight hard to overtake, and now the Brit wants to review his decision.
"I was pushing to pit because I thought the new medium would have been really competitive at the end. I need to look at it because to be honest, in hindsight, I think we had a really good pace. Those guys were on the medium and me being on the hard, I think we would have been in a really strong position to fight. But there were a lot of changes and you know how things plan out retrospectively," Russell said.
The fact Mercedes is talking about these decision-making moments potentially costing the team a fight for the race win shows Mercedes are making improvements. But Montreal is a unique circuit, with a race that was completed in unique conditions. Russell wants to wait another Grand Prix before making promises about their return to the front of the grid.
"Red Bull struggled a bit with their car these last three races, so I think we need to see how their performance turns out in Barcelona, which is a little bit more of a conventional circuit. But this pace increase that we've seen from us this weekend hasn't been a surprise to us because all the numbers back at the factory told us we're going to be finding a big chunk of performance with these upgrades. So Barcelona is going to be interesting for everybody," Russell said.
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4 October 2024
