Метка: George Russell

Las Vegas GP qualifying analysis



Ben Hunt and Mark Mann-Bryans take up their putters and head to a mini-golf course as they discuss qualifying at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. 

Between swings, the duo discuss George Russell taking his fourth pole position of the season ahead of Carlos Sainz and a surprise third for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. There’s also more discourse on the differences in pace between Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who qualified a frustrating 10th.

Franco Colapinto’s huge crash in Q2 was also discussed, as the Williams driver had a 50G impact with the inside wall at Turn 13 meaning he must undergo a pre-race fitness evaluation to start the grand prix. It also added to recent woes for Williams, as the British squad has now had five major crashes across the last three race weekends which could hamper its development for next season. 

Finally, Ben and Mark give their podium predictions for the grand prix, a race where Max Verstappen could clinch his fourth Formula 1 world championship.

 



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Mercedes «read race wrong» with Hamilton Singapore F1 strategy


Toto Wolff has conceded Mercedes «read the race wrong» with Lewis Hamilton’s strategy at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton pulled out a stellar effort to turn his qualifying fortunes around and take third on the grid at the Marina Bay Circuit, lining up behind championship protagonists Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

But when the tyre blankets were removed ahead of the race start, Hamilton was one of only two drivers along with Daniel Ricciardo to start on the red-walled soft tyre, with the majority of the field electing for mediums.

Singapore has had a history of small field spreads in the opening stages, given the excessive tyre management employed by the leading drivers, yet McLaren’s superior pace allowed Norris to push harder and stretch a lead out in the first stint.

This played to the detriment of Hamilton’s strategy, as he was unable to extend his stint as far as he needed and eventually finished down in sixth.

Addressing the strategy call, team principal Wolff explained: «I think we’ve read the race wrong.

«We took a decision based on historic Singapore races where it is basically a procession, Monaco-like, and that the soft tyre would give him an opportunity at the start.

«That was pretty much the only overtaking opportunity. That was the wrong decision that we all took together jointly.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, in the garage

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, in the garage

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

«It felt like a good offset but with the rear tyre deg that we had it was just one way and that was backwards.

«There was a logic behind it, but obviously it was contrary to what we should’ve decided.

«It doesn’t hide away from the fact that the car is too slow. Maybe the opposition are ahead or behind but that doesn’t change anything.»

Ricciardo’s call to go on the soft tyre from the back of the grid failed to pay dividends and the RB driver would eventually take a third stop to deny Norris an extra point by stealing the fastest lap.

That led to conspiracy theories given RB’s link to Red Bull, but Wolff suggested any accusations of foul play from the team are wide of the mark.

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«You’ve probably got to play all your strategies that you have,» he said when asked on the topic.

«I don’t think it was dirty play, not at all; it could come down to a point.

«It is within the regulations, the drivers weren’t unfair with each other. I think it is just about who scores an extra point. No big deal.»

Watch: Is Max Verstappen Ready to leave F1? — F1 Singapore GP Updates



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Azerbaijan Friday ‘not Mercedes’ finest’ after engine problems


Mercedes pair George Russell and Lewis Hamilton had contrasting fortunes during Friday’s free practice sessions for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Russell needed a change of engine after early issues, which were compounded by further problems towards the end of the day.

After FP1, Mercedes spotted an anomaly in the oil analysis it was conducting on Russell’s engine. It then decided to swap in a different engine from his pool for FP2, which delayed him getting into the session.

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The team is confident the removed engine can be used again and it will be fully analysed, but the understanding is the change was made for precautionary reasons rather than anything being obviously broken.

Russell was left looking across the garage for hope ahead of qualifying as he goes into the weekend on the back foot.

When asked if the reason for the issue had been found, Russell said: “For now, no. Not too sure exactly, we just knew we had to change the engine.

“So we had a problem after FP1, obviously delayed the session and then we also had a problem at the end of the session too.

“It wasn’t our finest Friday, that is for sure, but Lewis is looking quick out there so we know the car is capable of something strong, but once again Ferrari look really, really strong around here – they always seem to be fast in Baku.

“The problem was the engine in FP1, then at the end, it was actually a sensor failure, so we pitted because we thought we had a water leak but we didn’t.”

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Even when he could complete some running, Russell was not happy with his performance and will need to rally himself to improve.

“It was feeling okay, it wasn’t feeling superb for me out there,” he added.

“I was struggling, I was definitely off the pace compared to Lewis. I was really struggling with confidence in the car and getting my tyres in the right window so I need to try and step up my game a little bit for tomorrow and try and close the gap.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Hamilton, however, was feeling positive following his own performance as he ended FP2 in third, just 0.066 seconds off the pace of Charles Leclerc at the head of the field.

That has left the seven-time world champion looking cautiously optimistic of a good weekend in the Azeri capital.

“It was a really good day. I enjoyed today, I hit the ground running from the get-go and made incremental steps with the set-up – and for once felt like we didn’t have steps that we had to come back on, it was consistently building,” he said.

“I don’t know how my long run is compared to others but we didn’t get a huge amount of laps. Yeah, I think Red Bull seem pretty quick, as does the Ferrari, but we are there or thereabouts.

“On this day you don’t know what fuel loads everyone is on and often when we get to P3 or particularly when we get to qualifying everyone takes a step and we haven’t so far, we haven’t always.

“I think we will stay cautious and just try to do the best we can with what we have, I hope we are closer to the front than it seems maybe but we will find out tomorrow.”



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Two Mercedes collisions behind Verstappen’s Hamilton penalty call in Italian GP


Max Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers were involved in separate collisions as Formula 1’s 2024 Italian Grand Prix commenced, which explained the Red Bull driver’s call for a Lewis Hamilton penalty.

Verstappen had started seventh and behind the Mercedes pair on Sunday, with George Russell in the lead W15 actually lining up third and in a position to race the early leading McLarens and eventually winning Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

But Russell “just got caught out by Oscar [Piastri’s] braking point” at the first corner and locked up, then took to the escape road, from which he rejoined in the orbit of Hamilton (who had also had a brief collision with Carlos Sainz on the run to Turn 1) and Verstappen powering through the Curva Grande.

As they both shot past Russell, an analysis of the various onboard footage shows how Verstappen got a run on Hamilton and edged his nose alongside the Mercedes’ right-rear through the braking phase, when Hamilton drifted slightly right as the della Roggia chicane’s first apex approached.

Verstappen was squeezed on the outside line and the pair made light contact as they turned in.

Hamilton quickly said “I’ve been hit, by Max… right-rear”, while Verstappen complained “Lewis didn’t leave a car’s width” and later added “I got a penalty for that, so…”.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Before this, Verstappen’s momentary momentum stall meant and Russell’s better line through the first apex meant the latter’s front wheels got to level with the former’s rears, and as they traversed the second apex’s exit the Mercedes was pinched even as Russell braked with the space closing.

Verstappen’s left-rear then knocked off Russell’s right-side endplate, with the Briton only immediately then saying “Piastri just came across me in the braking zone” before asking Mercedes’ to check his damaged front wing as the first lap ended.

“I think the front wing is off,” he added.

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Verstappen asked Red Bull to “check my left-rear tyre cause I touched a little bit I think” but was given the all-clear to continue, as Hamilton had also been.

Russell, however, “lost a huge amount of performance” due to his damage in the opening stint where he was dropped by Verstappen and then passed by Sergio Perez in the other RB20 before pitting to replace his front wing.

Russell ultimately recovered to beat Perez, but wound up 1.8s behind Verstappen at the race’s end, with Hamilton 15.1s further ahead – the trio having all completed two-stoppers along with the defeated McLaren cars further ahead.

When asked if he was happy with Hamilton’s driving post-race, Verstappen replied: “Probably lap one, you’re focusing on the cars ahead, not looking in the mirrors as well.”

“That’s my only explanation,” he added of an incident that was not shown during the race’s live broadcast due to the need to cover the intra-McLaren fight ahead at the della Roggia on lap one, then the series of collisions in the early laps involving Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg and the RB drivers.

Afterwards, Mercedes’ director of trackside engineering, Andrew Shovlin, reflected on how Russell’s damage in the second Verstappen collision of the Silver Arrows squad’s Monza race “led to an early and long stop”.

He continued: “We could have potentially gained a place on Verstappen if we had committed to the one-stop but ultimately the opening lap damage was the bigger cost.”



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Russell baffled after «dropping like a stone” in Dutch GP


George Russell has conceded he was «left scratching his head» after going backwards in the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver qualified in fourth place and had looked strong all weekend going into Sunday’s race but struggled for pace and finished seventh — one spot ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Russell, 26, who came into this weekend having been denied victory in the Belgian Grand Prix after his car was disqualified for being underweight, said he was perplexed to be so far adrift.

«We just had no pace,» the Briton lamented. «I was just dropping like a stone — especially quite surprised versus Ferrari. We were expecting to be comfortably ahead of them, and Charles [Leclerc] was quicker, Carlos [Sainz] was catching me. Clearly, we got something wrong with the tyres.

«After the first couple of laps I thought we were on course for a podium here, I knew the overtaking was going to be difficult. I was really shocked at how fast McLaren was.

«Lando [Norris] just looked so comfortable out there, super impressive to see, but we’ve had six really strong races and then suddenly we’ve finished almost a minute behind the win, so you don’t lose all of that performance overnight.

«We qualified fourth and clearly didn’t get something right [in the race]. Honestly, right now I’m still scratching my head. It was very tough conditions, you know, this wind with the long corners. Right now I don’t have the answers.»

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Meanwhile, Hamilton was left ruing the cost of his three-place grid penalty imposed for blocking Sergio Perez and said that grid drop prevented him from a shot at the podium.

«I had a lot of fun today,» the seven-time world champion commented. «We planned to do a two-stop, started on the soft – the soft tyre was a very good tyre, it felt much better than the medium tyre in practice.

«The hard tyre was pretty decent, it was difficult to see what I needed to do. I was on a two-stopper, so I was trying to use up the tyre but I also wasn’t sure whether or not we might possibly go for a one [stop].

«Probably if I got on to the one-stop and managed a little bit better, then I could have done a one-stop and maybe finished one spot ahead.

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On whether the result would have been better without his grid penalty, Hamilton replied: «Yes, definitely, if I just qualified like I should have qualified.

«If I didn’t have the problem in qualifying then yes. I think I had the pace today to be in the top five – if I started fourth for example I would’ve finished at least fourth.»



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Mercedes set to hand Antonelli FP1 rookie outing at F1 Italian GP


Andrea Kimi Antonelli is set to be handed his first FP1 outing with Mercedes at the Italian Grand Prix as preparations for his potential promotion to its Formula 1 line-up from 2025 intensify.

The Italian, who turns 18 on Sunday, is strongly tipped to be named as replacement for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes from 2025, and has conducted a series of private tests in W13 and W14 F1 cars this year.

According to Autosport sister site it.motorsport.com, Mercedes is set to give Antonelli his first public F1 outing at Monza in one of its mandatory FP1 outings for a rookie driver, where the team is also expected to finalise its arrangement to promote its junior driver into its 2025 driver line-up alongside George Russell.

Prema Formula 2 racer Antonelli is expected to take over Hamilton’s W15 F1 car for the session in order to be engineered by Peter Bonnington, who recently became acquainted with the youngster during the Pirelli tyre test immediately after the Belgian GP.

Bonnington has recently been promoted to Mercedes head of race engineering, a role he will dovetail with race engineering duties, and keeps him at the team in 2025.

Several members of the Mercedes engineering team, including Bonnington, remained at Spa-Francorchamps to follow Antonelli’s progress at the test.

Antonelli has already been fulfilling simulator driver duties at Mercedes alongside his private testing programme, while his FP1 outing will be his first public F1 appearance on track for Mercedes.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Mercedes is yet to formally announce its FP1 rookie driver plans for this year and after Monza there are just two events, Mexico and Abu Dhabi, which are either not street tracks or run under a sprint race format.

In an exclusive interview with Autosport over the F1 summer break, Antonelli said he was not taking anything for granted at Mercedes but was also not afraid of being judged on the biggest stage.

«Some degree of worry I think is always there, the prospect of not being able to perform I think frightens everyone,» Antonelli said about the prospect of becoming an F1 rookie.

«My approach is to see it as a great opportunity to learn, grow and also enjoy the moment.

«I’m not afraid of being judged, I know Mercedes has a clear opinion about my potential, already this season in F2 the championship didn’t kick off in the best way but there were no negative thoughts.

«I am quite calm, if the opportunity presented itself to me I would take it with eagerness and try to make the most of it.

«Recently there has been some pressure on me with all the rumours about next year, but I have always tried to enjoy it. I’m enjoying the opportunities I have.»



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No excuses for «mistake» that got Russell disqualified from Belgian GP


Toto Wolff says Mercedes has «no excuse» and «clearly made a mistake» that lost George Russell his Belgian GP victory in a technical rules breach.

Russell has been stripped of the victory he took ahead of long-time race leader and his Mercedes team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, after Russell’s W15 was found to be 1.5kg underweight in post-race checks.

After the race, questions were posed over whether the winning one-stop strategy led to Russell’s car being underweight.

Speaking before the outcome of the Spa stewards’ investigation into the matter was announced, Wolff had said, «No, I think it’s a one-stop that … you expect lots of rubber, maybe more, but there’s no excuse».

He had been responding to a question that asked if there was anything Mercedes had been aware of that could have caused Russell’s car to underweight.

Wolff then added: «If the stewards deem it to be a breach of regulations, then it was what it is.

«We have to learn from that and as a team, there’s more positives today obviously for George, but that’s a massive blow to a driver whose childhood dream is to be winning these races that it’s probably taken away.

«But he’s gonna win many more.»

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Once Russell had been disqualified for breaching Article 4.1 of F1’s technical rules regarding minimum car weight and Hamilton was promoted to the win, Mercedes released a statement on Wolff’s behalf.

«We have to take our disqualification on the chin,» this read. «We have clearly made a mistake and need to ensure we learn from it.

«We will go away, evaluate what happened and understand what went wrong. To lose a 1-2 is frustrating and we can only apologise to George, who drove such a strong race.

«Lewis is of course promoted to P1; he was the fastest guy on the two-stop and is a deserving winner.

«Despite the disqualification, there are many positives we can take from this weekend.

«We had a car that was the benchmark in today’s race across two different strategies. Only a few months ago, that would have been inconceivable.

«We head into the summer break having won three of the past four races. We will look to come back after shutdown rejuvenated and with the aim of maintaining our positive trajectory.»

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Russell felt on «verge of getting knocked out» before British GP pole


George Russell feared he was set for an early Formula 1 qualifying elimination before securing pole for the British Grand Prix, and felt his car came alive in Q3.

Both Mercedes drivers had brief flirtations with the elimination zone across the opening phases of qualifying at Silverstone, but managed to haul themselves into the final shootout for pole.

Russell said that this was where the performance of his W15 ratcheted up, although he admitted that it was «the most pressure I’ve ever felt in a qualifying session» as he felt his confidence being knocked by the first phases.

Nonetheless, Russell led the way after the opening flurry of laps in qualifying; Lewis Hamilton overcame his team-mate’s benchmark on his second lap, but the younger Briton returned the favour to clinch his second pole of the season.

«This is definitely one of the best feelings I’ve ever had on a Saturday afternoon and the car was just insane when we went out in Q3, it just really came alive,» Russell said. «It was one of the best feelings I’ve had driving this circuit — crossing the line with my name in P1.

«And then with both of us on the front row, we couldn’t have even dreamed of that after the first three or four races.

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

«In Q3, we really turned it up, because Q1 and Q2 were very, very challenging. I felt like I was about to get knocked out at various points. The track was improving every single lap.

«And probably going into Q3 was the most pressure I’ve ever felt in a qualifying session because the whole Q1 and Q2 runs, it felt like I was on the verge of getting knocked out every single occasion.

«I wasn’t feeling that confident with myself, but as soon as I went through Turn 1 and Turn 2 in Q3 I felt good and managed to do the laps.»

Russell was slower in the first sector of his pole lap, but noted the point at which it began to improve to yield the ultimate two-tenth improvement.

He added that, although Mercedes was expecting to lose «a tenth or two» to second-row occupiers Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, weather would leave a question mark upon Sunday’s race with more rain forecast.

«From Turn 6 to Turn 9, I gained a lot; Turn 6 and 7 was mega, a big headwind through there so I braked really late and could just carry the speed through the corners. But it was just on rails, the car. I just felt so confident in it.

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«I think realistically we know we’ve got a tenth or two behind Lando and Max, but I think we’ve got a good fight on our hands.

«The weather’s going to play a huge part in that; it’s been raining and drying up throughout the last couple of days. There’s a bit of rain on the forecast tomorrow, we’re probably on course for another Montreal-style race.»



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How Hamilton’s data helped Russell snatch Canada F1 pole


Hamilton had looked well on top of things in final practice in Montreal, as he ended Saturday morning’s session nearly fourth-tenths clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Russell.

And it was that pace advantage that prompted Russell to dig a bit deeper into what Hamilton was doing.

Having gone through his data to better understand things, he claimed what he learned helped him secure the top spot, as his team-mate ultimately ended up seventh.

“This morning Lewis was absolutely flying and he was well ahead of me,” explained Russell after taking pole position. “I had to look a lot into his data to try to understand what he was doing differently. And, to be honest, that helped me a huge amount.

“So ahead of this qualifying, I’m just so glad that we could pull it off, because I feel like we really deserve all of this hard work we’ve been putting in, and the car has been feeling awesome this weekend.”

Mercedes’ first pole position since last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix has come in the wake of it introducing a new front wing to help improve the balance shift between high- and low-speed corners.

Russell admitted that the result had delivered a huge lift for the entire squad, which has struggled to make progress with the current generation of ground-effect cars.

“Such a buzz,” said Russell. “It’s been a while since we’ve experienced this feeling. There is so much hard work going on behind the scenes back at Brackley and Brixworth and it’s been a little while to be able to sort of get back in the fight. It almost felt like all of that hard work hasn’t been paying off.”

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, celebrates in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

He added: “I think we struggled a lot with understeer before. Last year, we had a lot of oversteer, and we’ve sort of been just trying to find the halfway house between what we had last year and what we had this year. And it feels like we’re sort of dialling in that sweet spot right now.

“It feels like it’s something we’ve been saying for a long time, in all honesty. But really, there is a sense of relief to actually see it translate into pole position.”

Russell’s pole position came despite him setting exactly the same time as world champion Max Verstappen. The Briton got the top spot, however, because he logged his lap first.

Verstappen believed that second was nothing to be upset about, after fearing that Mercedes was pretty clear at the front based on its pace in the early stages of qualifying.

“Probably Q3 was the weakest of the sessions for Mercedes,” said the Dutchman. “So being on the exact same lap time, it’s great.

“In hindsight, I think, when you look at their pure pace, I take second, because after Q2 I saw their lap times and I was like, there is no way that I can do something like that.

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, in Parc Ferme

Pole man George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, with Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

“Of course, there was a little bit of rain in between, like a few spits here and there, but I think overall just the weekend was, again, a bit messy from our side, just too many little issues.

“From there onwards we tried to, of course, find the best possible balance with the car. I think we did get a decent balance in qualifying, and I was quite happy with it, but just we need to be able to just have cleaner weekends without issues, and that will help a bit as well.”



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