George Russell had to settle for fifth place after being overtaken by Leclerc and Norris.
George Russell couldn’t go beyond fifth place in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The British Mercedes driver struggled with tire degradation in the final part of the race, during which he was overtaken, in succession, by Leclerc and Norris, finishing fifth. It’s a result that doesn’t satisfy Mercedes, but at the same time, it’s acceptable considering Russell’s strong start to the season.l.
This was the comment from car number 63 of Mercedes at the end of the race: “It was a race all about tire management. Unfortunately, we had overheating issues throughout. I tried to push at the start of the second stint to stay with Verstappen, but I quickly realized it wasn’t going to be possible. My goal was to manage the tires better, but Leclerc and Norris had more pace and managed to get past me without much I could do. After those overtakes, my tires dropped off significantly, and I just focused on bringing the car home.”
The Briton then added: “It wasn’t our best evening in terms of pace. Even with a different strategy, I don’t think we could’ve achieved a much better result. Still, we have to take the positives from this weekend and move forward. Tire overheating is clearly a weak point, and everyone in the team is focused on addressing it. We have to accept these results when things don’t go our way, but we want to improve and do so quickly.”
Photo: X Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
