Despite disqualification, George Russell claims one of his top Formula 1 races, questioning the unique strategy.
George Russell was compelled to forfeit victory yesterday due to a technical disqualification, as his Mercedes F1 W15 was found to be 1.5 kilograms under the minimum weight requirement.
This shortfall, pending full confirmation from his team, is attributed to the excessive wear of his hard tyres—a consequence unanticipated by Mercedes, who had not planned for a change from two pit stops to just one. Additionally, the absence of a victory lap at Spa meant that there was no opportunity to pick up rubber debris to slightly increase the tyre weight, which might have proved beneficial.
Nonetheless, this does not detract from Russell’s performance, which he himself acknowledges as “one of my best races in F1.”
“It was also one of the most challenging. We had extensively discussed the possibility of two or three pit stops in the morning. But suddenly, the tyres and the car were performing exceptionally well. I found my pace, and particularly once I took the lead, there were no backmarkers ahead, no other cars at all. It felt like I was driving in a simulator. It was quite strange. I kept an eye on the gap to Lewis and how fast he was catching up. And I thought, there’s no reason we can’t stay ahead and try to make this one-stop strategy work.”
Thirty-four laps on the last set of tyres. At what point did he believe victory was within reach?
“I think it was about 15 laps from the finish, to be honest. When Oscar, Charles, and Lewis pitted, I was watching the TV screens every lap after Eau Rouge, monitoring the gap each time. And they weren’t catching up as quickly as I expected. And my lap times were improving every lap. It was far from what any of us had anticipated.”
“It just shows how hard it is to predict things. Each lap, we, the 20 drivers, were pushing hard on this circuit and it was getting faster and faster. The grip was improving. And the tyres seemed to really be holding up well. I was wondering why nobody else was doing it. I kept thinking I must be missing something here because everyone else was pitting, but yes, what a great race.”
How nervous was he in those final laps? Did he think Lewis would overtake him?
“I really thought it was going to be very close. But I also recognise how difficult it is to overtake here. You know, we all have these thin rear wings. There isn’t much drag. But I just want to acknowledge Lewis’s superb race. You know, he was really in control at the start. And, you know, the strategy was a tough choice for everyone. And it was really… That pit stop was quite the surprise.”
Toto Wolff, his boss, has dubbed him “the tyre whisperer.”
“Yes, I think that’s accurate! You definitely need to manage the tyres if you want to do something that’s somewhat out of the ordinary. It goes hand in hand. It was great. The team kind of backed me and trusted me to go for the one stop. And then obviously, you know, when you’re behind the wheel, you have to perform and manage certain turns, attack in others. And also at the end, I knew Lewis was catching up, but I knew I had to be fast in three corners, and it was the last two corners and the first. I knew that if I could conserve the tyres in the middle sector and nail those three corners, it would be very difficult for Lewis to overtake in turn 5. So, yes, a team effort.”
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Disqualified Russell Delivers Top F1 Performance Disqualified Russell Delivers Top F1 Performance
