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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21 Mar 2025 - 23 Mar 2025
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2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Race Results

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
57
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
+0.895s
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
+8.481s
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
+12.773s
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
+15.135s
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
+17.413s
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
+18.423s
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
+19.826s
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
+20.448s
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
+22.473s
Pierre Gasly
11
PIERRE
GASLY
+26.502s
Yuki Tsunoda
12
YUKI
TSUNODA
+29.884s
Esteban Ocon
13
ESTEBAN
OCON
+33.161s
Oliver Bearman
14
OLIVER
BEARMAN
+40.351s
Liam Lawson
15
LIAM
LAWSON
47 DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto
16
GABRIEL
BORTOLETO
47 DNF
Fernando Alonso
17
FERNANDO
ALONSO
34 DNF
Carlos Sainz
18
CARLOS
SAINZ
0 DNF
Jack Doohan
19
JACK
DOOHAN
0 DNF
Isack Hadjar
20
ISACK
HADJAR
0 DNF
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Shanghai International
23 Mar
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Japanese
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6 Apr
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Bahrain
Sakhir desert
13 Apr
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Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street
20 Apr
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United States
Miami
04 May

2025 FORMULA 1 DRIVERS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lando Norris
1
LANDO
NORRIS
25 Points
Max Verstappen
2
MAX
VERSTAPPEN
18
George Russell
3
GEORGE
RUSSELL
15
Alex Albon
4
ALEX
ALBON
12
Kimi Antonelli
5
KIMI
ANTONELLI
10
Lance Stroll
6
LANCE
STROLL
8
Nico Hulkenberg
7
NICO
HULKENBERG
6
Charles Leclerc
8
CHARLES
LECLERC
4
Oscar Piastri
9
OSCAR
PIASTRI
2
Lewis Hamilton
10
LEWIS
HAMILTON
1

2025 FORMULA 1 CONSTRUCTORS' WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

1
McLaren
27
2
Mercedes
25
3
Red Bull
18
4
Williams
12
5
Aston Martin
8
6
Sauber
6
7
Ferrari
5
8
Alpine F1
0
9
Haas F1
0
10
Racing Bulls
0
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