An uphill race
Sixth place feels like an achievement for George Russell in the United States Grand Prix at the 5.513-kilometre Circuit of The Americas in Austin, especially considering the two major obstacles the British driver had to face before and during the race. Forced to start from the pit lane due to damage sustained in Q3, Russell also had to serve a 5-second penalty for pushing Valtteri Bottas off the track during his comeback.
The first stint was crucial
The stewards’ decision was not well-received by #63 or Team Principal Toto Wolff, but despite that, Russell continued his push into the points, finishing in sixth place ahead of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull: “I’m pleased with how things went for me today. We didn’t know what the race would hold in terms of opportunities, but going from the pit lane to P6 and finishing ahead of a Red Bull meant getting the best out of a difficult situation,” he commented. “We had good pace throughout, especially on the hard tires. We were able to extend the first stint and have fresher tires to attack in the final laps. In the coming days, we’ll work hard to analyze the weekend as a whole. The car can still be tricky at times; Lewis doesn’t usually end races in the gravel like we saw today. When he finds his groove, he can deliver great performances, but consistency is tough. I think the car had the potential to fight for the podium this weekend, but we need to expand its operating window. We’ll aim to bounce back next weekend in Mexico.”
A weekend to forget
This statement foreshadowed what happened to Lewis Hamilton, who had a negative end to a weekend in which the seven-time world champion had called his Mercedes “terrible” after being eliminated in Q1. Shortly after the start, the future Ferrari driver lost control of his car and ended up in the gravel, nullifying any chance of a comeback: “I had a great start and thought the race was going to be positive,” he admitted. “I was just getting the tires settled when I had the accident, which was a really strange moment. I wasn’t pushing too hard, but the car bounced a bit at turn 19, I lost the rear, and that was it. We recorded a strong gust of wind, up to 40 km/h, as I entered the corner, which probably didn’t help. George had a similar spin to mine yesterday, so we’ll work hard to analyze both incidents and see what we can learn from them. I feel sorry for the whole team, who worked so hard to bring these updates, but from here on, we move forward. Hopefully, we can get the car into better shape for next week in Mexico. We’ll all be working hard toward that.”
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