Russell, what a blow in Japan
Considering the great superiority of Mercedes, which emerged from the very first tests, and the experience accumulated over seven Formula 1 seasons, at the beginning of the year it was easy to imagine that George Russell would have made a clean sweep in the first GPs. Instead, the Briton won “only” the opening round in Melbourne, leaving the other two successes to Kimi Antonelli. And now he finds himself chasing the Bolognese in the standings.
Read more Renault Twingo, the small electric car gets off to a good start in Italy
Although Antonelli was very fast on race pace in China and Japan, some episodes made the path easier for the Italian. For example, Russell’s technical problems in Shanghai qualifying, or the extremely unfortunate timing of the Safety Car at Suzuka, sent onto the track just seconds after the Briton entered the pits, which allowed Antonelli to perform a free pit stop.
Wolff’s words
The outcome of these first races has led some observers to think that Toto Wolff has bet on Antonelli, but the Mercedes team principal continues to believe blindly in Russell. And, after the Japanese GP, he defended him: “I believe the whole weekend went against him, starting from the setup decisions on Saturday, which worsened the car from FP3 to qualifying“.
Read more Briatore: “We must lay the foundations to build the team. Renault and Alpine are committed”
“As for the pit stop, we had to stop him because otherwise we risked the position in favor of Leclerc (who in turn had stopped to cover Lando Norris’s stop, ed.). Then luck was on Kimi’s side, who was very fast at that moment, and not on George’s side, who then had a software problem and was overtaken by Leclerc“. Wolff, however, does not only speak of bad luck, but also of improvements that both the drivers and the team must show in Miami: “Certainly George and Kimi’s start saw errors on the part of the drivers, but we also did not provide them with the best tools for the start“.
Read more Piastri confident: “Mercedes beatable? Yes, but we have a big gap to close”
