F1 News
Russell ready to fight for back to back wins: 'Had my sights set on Qatar'
Las Vegas Grand Prix winner George Russell is feeling very confident heading into the Qatar Grand Prix. It's a race where he expects Mercedes to be fighting for another victory after they secured their 60th F1 one-two on the streets of Las Vegas last time out. Russell, who has won two races this season, was feeling so positive for the race in Qatar that he wanted to switch engines to maximise the performance of his W15 in the Middle East.
Mercedes dominated in Las Vegas but has been dealing with an inconsistent car this year despite winning four races in total. The W15 performs well in lower temperatures and on low-grip circuits, making the Las Vegas Street Circuit perfect for them. Qatar surprisingly has similar characteristics to Las Vegas, with Russell thinking about the upcoming Qatar clash for a long time.
Russell: 'I wanted my freshest engine for Qatar'
"I think we've got a good shot in Qatar, to be honest. Going into this triple header, I had my sights set on Qatar, even to the point that I wanted to take my freshest engine out and put an old engine in for Vegas to save my best engine for Qatar. I'm kind of glad we didn't do that now," Russell revealed.
The Brit is not the only Mercedes member feeling positive for the race in Qatar. Technical director James Allison thinks a win is possible, too. Mercedes sit fourth in the constructor's standings with 425 points. The Brackley-based team is 130 points behind third-placed Red Bull, but good results in the remaining two races will send them into the off-season with confidence.
Why were Mercedes so fast in Las Vegas?
In the post-race press conference, Russell also explained exactly why Mercedes was so fast in Sin City. "It's no secret we struggle on the bumpy circuits, and we have to lift the car quite a lot. We've got to make it much softer. We're in a downforce window where we don't have any. It's not that we just suddenly forget how to set the car up, it's just certain circuits require us to put the car in a window it doesn't like to be. On tracks like this, where it's relatively smooth, we can get the car quite low, quite stiff, with little or no bumps around the track, we fly."
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