The vice-principal of the Mercedes team, Bradley Lord, has detailed the reasons that led George Russell to pit during the virtual safety car (VSC) in the Spanish Grand Prix, despite starting the race on hard tires.
Russell was the only driver from the top teams to opt for a different strategy, on a Madring circuit where overtaking opportunities were limited. The timing of the VSC entry was crucial to the development of his race.
The race was neutralized at the end of lap 14, a fact that benefited the drivers ahead who had started on medium or soft tires. Lando Norris was already too far ahead when the VSC was announced, while drivers like Charles Leclerc and Russell, who had started on hard tires, found themselves in a complicated situation. Leclerc opted to stay on track, while Russell decided to switch to medium tires.
Lord explained that, for Russell, the VSC came at the worst possible moment, as he had planned a single pit stop and had started the race in sixth position. ‘We made the call for George to have a different strategy from Leclerc, because otherwise he would have followed his pace until the end,’ Lord commented. ‘The opportunity to do an undercut was very limited due to the little capacity to overtake.’
After his stop, Russell showed remarkable performance, applying pressure on Leclerc and finishing just 0.7 seconds behind him in a race where the Ferrari driver ended up leading until his stop on lap 45.
Despite setting the fastest lap of the race, Russell now finds himself 81 points behind Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, and is showing little optimism about his chances of fighting for the title.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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