George Russell fears that the sprint weekend in Brazil could lead to some teams being disqualified again at the Grand Prix this year after it happened at the Circuit of the Americas in the United States.
After the Formula 1 race in Austin, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified because the plank under the floor of their cars had not passed inspection. The part was found to be more worn than allowed, and this was attributed by the teams to their short preparation time due to the single practice on Friday.
Russell wasn't inspected. The Mercedes driver would not be surprised if the same problem occurs in Sao Paulo. "It’s going to be really challenging and this is going to be a big issue with the Sprint race weekend," warned Russell.
"As we said in Austin, we ended practice, we did our checks, there was no wear, so we thought we’re in the clear and then, a small change of wind direction, putting 100 kilos of fuel in the car for the first time, some laps in traffic, some laps not in traffic in a really bumpy circuit, we suddenly found ourselves with an issue we weren’t expecting," explained Russell. He fears that this same problem may occur more often on sprint weekends because of the single free practice session available to teams.
That will go down I history for me. Along with Webber slamming all of the water out of his glass next to vettel. ??
No, here comes Mercedes B.S, we can't fix it so everyone else should change their car foot stomping again. They will most likely get their way. Again
Russlle saying we going have floor low so we can get are first win please fia let us
Oh George, you are worried about getting a DQ yourself. As far as I know you can't compare Austin and Brasil as the latter is less bumpy. If you are worried about a DQ than I have a simple solution for you, just set your car higher. In that case you don't have the risk of a DQ. Okay, the downside of it might be that your car performs less well so pick your choice. Your boss Toto earlier mentioned that he is willing to risk another DQ if it could provide Mercedes with a victory so maybe he can help you decide. Maybe, and I say maybe, your statement might be a political one as it might be an attempt to pursuade the FIA to allow a lower ride height and subsequently more wear of the skidboard. Most likely as this suits better the performance of your car. Maybe you should not have pushed the FIA last year for a rule change which obliged all teams to have a higher ride height to avoid safety issues.
It's a funny thought, that now MB would be happy to lower the permitted ride height, and it was because of them that limit was raised.
George loves to moan about his teammate every time he’s behind when instead he has to improve his performance. Just a talker.