Russell calls for Mercedes review after 'worst decision team has made'
Russell calls for Mercedes review after 'worst decision team has made'
George Russell has asked for a review of Mercedes' pit-stop decision during the Japanese Grand Prix he claims cost him “10 seconds” in stacking behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The delayed race, which had been red-flagged after two laps, was restarted with cars on full wets behind the safety car. Russell was called in to change to intermediate tyres on lap eight.
To do so, however, he had to sit and wait behind Hamilton, dropping him out of the top 10 to 14th. On the radio, he told the team it was “the worst decision we’ve made”.
Speaking after the race he said: “I need to look back and review it. I knew everybody would be pitting and we would lose a whole load of time by stacking because everyone was line astern.
“I felt I could have done one more lap. I don’t know where Fernando [Alonso] exited the pits, but I was right behind him and I would have pitted the same lap as Fernando. I probably lost 10 seconds in the pit lane. “It’s two bad races for us for various reasons and we need to review and see what happened.”
Russell shocked by zero visibility restart
Russell revealed the visibility at the restart of the race, when the cars were on full extreme wet tyres and kicking up large amounts of water from the saturated surface, was “quite scary”.
He added: “When we had that restart the visibility was zero. I mean, I couldn’t see the edge of the white lines of the track. I couldn’t see more than 3m in front of me. I couldn’t see left or right either. They were quite scary conditions.”
Hamilton ended up finishing fifth, unable to pass the Alpine of Esteban Ocon ahead, while Russell had to pick his way through the field, executing an impressive move on Yuki Tsunoda and also passing Nicolas Latifi to finish eighth.
He added: “[The overtake] was a silver lining. That was enjoyable and fun, but it was truly a race of tyre management.
"It was probably the most amount of tyre management I have ever done in a Formula 1 race. Considering it was wet, that’s pretty surprising.”
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Alonso reveals MISTAKE cost him in shock Red Bull battle - Top three verdict
- 43 minutes ago
F1 star accuses team-mate of ‘crossing the line’ in battle
- 1 hour ago
F1 team lodge FIA PROTEST over Chinese Grand Prix qualifying result
- 2 hours ago
Hamilton in 's*** happens' outburst after huge China failure
- 2 hours ago
F1 News Today: Alonso hit with China PENALTY as Hamilton endures Shanghai nightmare
- 3 hours ago
F1 star PENALISED following controversial Chinese GP incident
- 3 hours ago
Related news
NIGHTMARE Japanese GP may bite F1 team later this season
EMBARRASSING Hamilton crash caught on camera at Suzuka
‘Ricciardo is so finished’ - Pressure mounts on RB star after BIG Japanese GP crash
FIA reveal OFFICIAL verdict on Ricciardo Japanese GP crash
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860