Another disappointment for Mercedes and George Russell. The British competitor is not having the best season, and the team’s mistakes are added to the deteriorated form. The winner of last year’s Grand Prix of Brazil said goodbye in Hungarian qualifying already in Q1, and while he was giving interviews in the media center, his teammate was successfully fighting for pole position on the track.
Objectively, we have to say that this time it was not his fault, although it would also be very easy to blame the team. At Mercedes, they knew they were in danger of relegation, but they still decided to take to the track at the last moment, which later turned out to be a very bad decision.
Russell lined up in a disciplined manner in the run-in to the final fast attempt, but his teammates began to panic. In the last corner, the Mercedes pilot was overtaken first by Lando Norris (he passed him almost on the grass), Valtteri Bottas (he was on a fast lap that was ruined by his undisciplined rivals), then Lance Stroll joined him, and finally Pierre Gasly, who is apparently so fed up with the blocking this season, that he didn’t pay any attention, passed him along with Russell with an “excellent” mouse.
Russell started the lap with unprepared tires, lost four tenths in the first sector and it was all over. While Lewis Hamilton will be on pole position at the start of Sunday’s race, his teammate will line up on the penultimate row.
“We were fast and the feeling in the car was fantastic. In the last corner, I was overtaken by four cars in the approach to the fast attempt – one of them was Gasly – the tires were absolutely off and I was already losing three tenths before the first corner. It’s not the least bit shocking that we’ve been slow and haven’t progressed.” he said in frustration after qualifying George Russell.
“I’m very disappointed because we didn’t need to take any risks at all. The car had enough speed to advance to Q2 and Q3. Such a mistake is rare for us, but if you don’t do everything right, then in my opinion you don’t deserve to be promoted.” he added Russell.
It is to the credit of the British competitor that he did not accuse his opponents of anything, even though he probably had the right to do so. Rather, he was frustrated by the team’s decision, which could have afforded to send him on the track a minute earlier and prevent this mess.
“There is no gentleman’s agreement, as in such a situation you have to think of yourself first. I can understand why they did it. Look at Valtteri blocked by six cars in his fast attempt. But like I said, if you don’t do things right, you’re going to be punished, and we were punished.” he said Russell.
When asked again whether he would present the problem at the riders’ meeting, he was not going to criticize his rivals when he said: “There’s nothing you can do about it because you’re going out on the track to fight for yourself. We could have avoided this mess, so I won’t blame anyone. If I were them, I would probably do the same thing.” George said.
2023-07-22 15:52:51
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