George Russell was surprised by Mercedes’ lack of pace in Brazil. Image: @GeorgeRussell63/x
‘It was a strange one’ – Russell on Merc’s lack of pace in Brazil
“Yeah, pretty much. [Hamilton and I] were dropping back at a similar rate.,” George Russell left frustrated with Mercedes’ lack of pace.
George Russell was surprised by Mercedes’ lack of pace in Brazil. Image: @GeorgeRussell63/x
Mercedes driver George Russell says he was surprised by the team’s lack of pace during the Sao Paulo Sprint on Saturday.
The 25-year-old finished fourth and despite a good start to the sprint.
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Russell made a brilliant start by squeezing past Sergio Perez in the opening exchanges, before moving up to second on the next lap, when he dived down the inside of Lando Norris at Turn 10.
But he soon began to drop back down the order, with Norris waiting until Lap 5 to pounce on his compatriot before Perez picked off Russell on Lap 8, with the Mercedes driver left to run a lonely race to the chequered flag.
After the 24 lap Sprint, Russell said overheating tyres was the reason why the car was slow.
ALSO READ: Perez desperate to finish second ahead of Lewis Hamilton
“Yeah, pretty much. [Hamilton and I] were dropping back at a similar rate.
“I was quite happy with my management but the pace of Red Bull and Lando just really caught us by the surprise. [It’s] challenging to understand these tyres. It was a strange one,” said Russell.
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“But the conditions are three or four degrees colder tomorrow, and believe it or not, that has a massive impact on the cars and the tyres – mainly the tyres, you are operating at a totally different window.
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“I hope things will come towards us; I’m not going to put all my eggs in that basket. We need to work to understand how we got it wrong today. It’s very unforeseen.”
