Russell points out clear difference maker for Mercedes' performance
F1 News
Mercedes had a confusing weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and George Russell seems to now the reason for that. The British driver could manage to finish on the podium in Baku, after Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez crashed out ahead of him. While Russell could finish in P3, his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand finished in P9 after starting from the pit lane.
Russell on the challenge created by the tyres
George Russell was not on course to finish in third position in Baku, but the Briton could take advantage of Perez and Sainz crashing out on the penultimate lap. While Lewis Hamilton said before that he struggled with the balance of his car, Russell was suffering on his first stint on the mediums.
"We need to understand what happened in the race because the last stint, we had a car that was comfortably capable of winning this race. In the first stint we had a car that probably didn't deserve to be in the top 10, and the only difference is the tyres," the Briton began following the race.
"We're not the only team to talk about this, it's pretty frustrating for all of us sometimes when you just don't understand the fluctuations in performance between a Q1 and a Q2 session, as an example, or one stint to another. So yeah, it's a challenge."
Mercedes to be strong in Singapore?
In 2023, the two Mercedes drivers were challenging for the win in the Asian country, however, George Russell was unable to overtake Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris on fresher tyres, thanks to the Spaniard's strategy to give Norris DRS on the straights. On the final lap, however, the Briton's race ended in the barriers.
"I've got no idea [how Singapore will turn out] to be honest because, as I said, just in this one race we had a car that could have won if you took the pace from half of the race and the car that should have been outside the top 10 from the other half. So I hope we've got the faster version," the two-time Grand Prix winner previewed the upcoming F1 weekend.
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