Mr. Sunday struck again: discreet and solid, as usual since the start of the year, George Russell has brought a superb 2nd place in Bahrain, his best result of the year and his 3rd podium in 4 Grands Prix.
The Mercedes F1 driver was very hot since he knew multiple problems at the end of the test (DRS problems, Brake-by-Wire, suffering, long pedals …). Everything almost turned to vinegar and Lando Norris went to a hair to prick his 2nd place!
But George Russell, imperial, has shown that he could well be a challenger for the title if the development rate of his Mercedes F1 follows.
“Yes, it was extremely difficult at the end. I had all kinds of problems with the car. The steering wheel, I lost all my data, and the brake pedal went into failure mode, so I had to do lots of resets. One minute the brakes operated properly, the next minute no. Honestly, I was very happy when I saw the checkered flag. »»
George Russell was also under investigation for manually activating his DRS, an investigation ultimately classified without follow -up. The Mercedes F1 driver has won nothing in the case, he insisted.
“Yes, I don’t really know how it happened. It was linked to all these problems we had. As soon as I saw that he had opened, I released the accelerator. I lost two tenths. It didn’t happen again. I didn’t even press the DRS button – I pressed another button and it opened. As I said, I lost much more than I won – I don’t even think I have won anything since it remained open less than a second. »»
With all these problems, is this one of the second most satisfactory places in his career?
“Yes, finally … I didn’t have so many second places, to be honest. I had some third places, but we did not expect to be close to McLaren this weekend at all. Qualifying on the front line is already a real surprise. »»
“And then, seeing Lando just behind me in the first round, I said to myself:” He will double and fly away. ” Oscar did an incredible job to control the race, but succeed in keeping Lando behind me, I was really, really satisfied. »»
The Mercedes F1 was born and constitutes the 2nd force of the plateau. This start to the season, George Russell, Mr. Podiums, therefore full of confidence. Especially since the Mercedes F1 worked in hot conditions, and that’s another good surprise.
“Yes, a lot of confidence, to be honest. It was our real test. We knew that our car likes cold conditions, so the competitiveness shown in China and Suzuka was not a huge surprise. But here in Bahrain, it was the question mark. »»
“And we still had a good weekend. So it’s encouraging for the season. »»
Russell does not see himself as a pretender a title
George Russell has not yet won a race, but he established himself as one of the candidates for the title. In outsider behind the McLaren F1 and Max Verstappen, of course, but as a potential candidate. What does he think?
“I would love to say it, but I don’t think that is the case, honestly. McLaren is just too dominant for the moment. I think what we saw this weekend in Bahrain is probably their peak of performance. »»
“And what we saw in China and Suzuka was perhaps their weakest scenario-and they still won one in two race. So we have to continue to pick up the points, pick up the crumbs. And this weekend, we picked up the crumbs to get a 2nd place-and we did it in Melbourne too to obtain a 3rd place. I don’t expect it to continue very long, but who knows. »»
