Things got a little ‘messy’ for Mercedes driver George Russell during Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, journalist Peter Windsor says. Russell finished seventh in Suzuka, having started in ninth.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton out-qualified the 26-year-old for the first time this season, but he then offered to swap positions in the early stages of the Grand Prix as he struggled for pace. Mercedes duly issued the instruction, and Russell remained ahead for the rest of the race.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, though, Windsor questioned one of Russell’s decisions. Mercedes initially opted to run a one-stop strategy with both of their drivers, which made them sitting ducks against their rivals on fresher tyres.
However, the Silver Arrows then called both Russell and Hamilton into the pits later than the cars ahead, giving them an advantage in the closing stages. The former was able to pass Oscar Piastri in the McLaren to take seventh and increase his tally of points to 24.
The ex-Williams driver left the previous race in Australia empty-handed after crashing out in a late encounter with Fernando Alonso. But heading to the Chinese Grand Prix at the end of next week, he holds a 14-point edge over Hamilton in the standings.
Peter Windsor questions George Russell call at Suzuka
While Russell was once again the lead Mercedes, Windsor spotted flaws in his racecraft up against Piastri. The stewards investigated the Englishman for forcing Piastri off the track at the final chicane, but he escaped a penalty.
Windsor felt that he should have waited for the DRS straight immediately after the corner, which would have made the overtake much more straightforward. He would then have had a better opportunity of leapfrogging Alonso before the chequered flag.
He said: “George just beat Oscar Piastri, made heavy weather of it. He tried to go inside him at the chicane, Senna/Prost style really. Yes, there was a gap – Oscar left a gap, there’s no doubt about that – but George went inside him at the chicane, almost for sure Oscar was going to use all the road, and there wasn’t going to be room for these two ginormous Formula 1 cars going through the chicane.
“A really odd decision I think by George, it was a reflex thing probably, but there was a DRS immediately after that, so why did he do that? He could have got a run on Oscar down there, he could have got DRS down there, and he might then have had a chance of beating Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
“As it was, with Oscar going into the run-off area and rejoining, and George having to give the position back, he lost ground, he lost time, yes he repassed Oscar, he did eventually get Oscar with DRS as he should’ve, two laps later. But by then Fernando was gone, and he couldn’t beat Fernando, so a little bit of a messy end to the race for George Russell there.”
Russell and Mercedes continue to struggle
Russell, who’s scored 11 podiums and one victory during his career, will want to be competing higher up the field. But Mercedes are still struggling to get to grips with their new W15 car, and progress has been slow.
Unlike race-winners and reigning champions Red Bull, Toto Wolff’s team didn’t bring any upgrades to their car for the race weekend. Ted Kravitz says this may have ‘horrified’ their fans, but they’re focused on changing the set-up to optimise performance for now.
There were more flashes of promise in Suzuka, with Damon Hill noting that optimism levels after Friday’s running were higher than they had been for years. Colleague Anthony Davidson spotted that the car wasn’t bouncing down the back straight, suggesting they may have worked out how to fix a long-term issue.
And yet, they ended up leaving Suzuka with just six points on the board. The gap to third-place McLaren in the constructors’ is now 35 points, with Ferrari already 86 up the road.
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