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F1's Russell Serious Talk Needed on Pirelli

Russell Slams Pirelli Over ‘Magic’ Tires Issue

17/09/2024

Russell criticizes Pirelli’s inconsistent tires after a perplexing race, demanding a serious conversation to address the issue.

George Russell expressed his “anger” about Pirelli tires during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Mercedes F1 driver does not understand how he can lag behind his rivals with medium tires, yet be significantly faster with hard compounds, and thinks Pirelli needs to improve their tires.

“It was such a strange race. For the first half, we were 1.5 seconds behind. In the last 20 laps, I was a second faster than Oscar and Charles, and three-tenths quicker than Max, Checo, and Carlos. It’s the same circuit, the same driver, the same car,” Russell stated.

“We just switched from a yellow tire to a white tire. Honestly, it’s frustrating that it changes so much and it’s not just Mercedes. It’s the same for all teams and drivers. One session we’re fast, the next, we’re not. There’s only one thing that changes.”

The Briton thinks that even Pirelli does not understand its own products, and he points out that this undermines the work of Mercedes employees and other teams by adding a completely arbitrary variable.

“It’s black magic. Even the people who make the tires don’t understand them. We all need to have a serious discussion about what’s going on because 2,000 people are working hard to deliver the fastest car.”

“For 20 laps, we had a car that was comfortable fighting for the win, for another 20 laps, we had a car that shouldn’t be in the points. The only difference is the tires. It’s not good enough, really.”

F1's Russell Serious Talk Needed on Pirelli

F1’s Russell: Serious Talk Needed on Pirelli F1’s Russell: Serious Talk Needed on Pirelli

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