F1: Mercedes strikes a blow, it ignites

Formula 1

F1: Mercedes strikes a blow, it ignites

Published on June 6, 2023 at 06:35

This weekend was the seventh Grand Prix of the season, in Barcelona. If Max Verstappen and Red Bull have once again won a race, one of the strong images remains the incredible comeback of George Russell. Starting in 12th place after a difficult qualifying session, the Briton managed to finish on the third step of the podium, behind his teammate Max Verstappen. And he paid a nice tribute to his team.

THE Spanish Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen win, his fifth this season. But it also may have seen the beginning of the revival of mercedes with the second place of Lewis Hamilton and the third of George Russell. The latter also managed a magnificent race, he who started from 12th place.

“I thought we could fight for 5-6th place”

In comments reported by nextgen-auto.com, george russell tells how he experienced the hours between the end of qualifying and the race: “ After qualifying we knew it would be a challenge, but in the morning we woke up with a bit more positivity and I thought we could definitely fight for 5th or 6th place. I thought 3rd would be a little out of reach – but the car was really, really great; the team did a good job with the strategy and it was a really satisfying race, with good overtaking. To be honest, I thought quite early on that the podium was possible. Even after the first stint, I thought it was possible when I saw the other cars coming into the pits: my tires felt good, the car felt good, so even after two laps I thought, ‘ you know what, we can do it’. »

« I am very grateful to the whole team for bringing these changes »

george russell also wanted to warn Max Verstappen And Red Bull : “ Thank you so much to the whole team for bringing about these changes, but we’re also not going to get carried away right after this race either, because we know it might be a little different in future races, and I think general Aston and Ferrari were a bit more off the pace than usual. The feeling was really solid, but we know we still have some progress to make. It was a little cooler in the race, which may have worked in our favour. We know our race pace is good, but we definitely need to take a big step forward to catch the Red Bulls and we are not happy with 2nd and 3rd place. Even though it’s a good step forward, we’re aiming for the top. »