George Russell, F1 driver

Dirty air has become a talking point this season in the context of how closely drivers can follow other cars.However, Russell notes that it has also impacted his comfort in the cockpit, having highlighted the issue on team radio in the course of last weekend's Japanese GP."It's been a bit of a theme this year," he said when asked by Motorsport.com about the issue."But I have had no problem with ...

read on

Russell was only ninth fastest in Q3, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton marginally better in seventh - albeit the latter was still 0.589 seconds slower than polesitter Max Verstappen.An eventual 0.811s deficit for Russell was partly the result of a final-sector mistake. Otherwise, he reckoned he would have been 0.4s better off to potentially qualify inside the top five."We predicted before the session ...

read on

Russell was left screaming for the race to be stopped after his wrecked W15 had bounced back onto the track and come to rest on its side following a crash while chasing Fernando Alonso.The aftermath of the crash caused considerable concern amongst F1 fans and observers given the danger.Although the live broadcast cut to Russell's accident as it was progressing, once he had come to a stop it ...

read on

The F1 pack has been quizzed extensively about the incident late in the race last time out in Melbourne as this weekend's Suzuka race gets underway, with a notable split in opinions amongst the racing cohort.Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg "wasn't very impressed with Fernando's tactics", while Sauber racers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu both called the decision to penalise the Spaniard ...

read on

Alonso was handed a post-event drive-through, which became a 20-second time penalty, for the way he slowed up Russell as they battled for sixth place.The FIA race stewards deemed that Alonso had driven in a “potentially” dangerous manner by slowing 100-metres earlier than normal, which they think contributed to Russell losing control behind him and crashing his Mercedes out of the race.While ...

read on

Mercedes has consistently avoided publicly backing a number one driver during the stints that Nico Rosberg, Valtteri Bottas and now Russell have had alongside Hamilton since 2013.Although the seven-time champion will exit the Silver Arrows at the end of the season to move to Ferrari, long-time Mercedes driver Russell remains under contract until the end of 2025.But regardless of whether Mercedes ...

read on

In the closing laps of the Melbourne race, Alonso was left battling Russell for sixth place.Fearing how vulnerable he would be through Albert Park's DRS zones, Alonso claimed he tried to brake earlier for Turn 6 on the penultimate lap so he could carry more speed onto the following straight.Mercedes man Russell was caught out by his manoeuvre and crashed off in the Aston Martin's dirty air, with ...

read on

The pair were battling for sixth place in the closing stages of the Albert Park race, with Russell closing in on Alonso, having pitted later and with the benefit of fresher tyres.Approaching Turn 6, Russell appeared to suddenly gain on the Aston Martin ahead, which destabilised his Mercedes and sent him over the gravel and into a heavy hit with the wall.Russell has confirmed he is OK having been ...

read on

Russell was second fastest aboard the Mercedes W15 during FP2 at the Jeddah street circuit before qualifying in seventh place, but he would only go on to gain one position during the 50-lap race.Read Also:


Formula 1F1 Saudi Arabian GP: Verstappen cruises to victory ahead of Perez, Leclerc


That place came courtesy of one-time leader Lando Norris dropping to eighth after ...

read on

The start of the second one-hour session on Thursday in Jeddah was delayed by 10 minutes as the FIA checked drain covers in the pitlane, but it ran to time under the lights in what is the only representative practice night-time running ahead of qualifying and the race.Oscar Piastri led the pack out of the pits in his McLaren and set the initial first-place benchmark at 1m32.956s after Valtteri ...

read on

In two separate reports published by the BBC this week, it is claimed a whistleblower has accused Ben Sulayem of attempting to interfere in the result of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and that later in last season he allegedly pushed for officials to find a way not to certify the new Las Vegas circuit.Read Also:


Formula 1Ben Sulayem investigated for alleged attempt to interfere in ...

read on

An independent investigation eventually cleared Red Bull team principal Christian Horner of any wrongdoing after a female employee made allegations against him.However, the subsequent and supposed leak of material at the heart of the case and Jos Verstappen claiming the squad will “explode” if Horner remains has led many to believe that Red Bull faces a choice between keeping its F1 boss and ...

read on

While Charles Leclerc was unable to repeat his session-topping Q2 time, clearing the way for Max Verstappen to grab pole position, Russell led the Mercedes charge by running third fastest.Verstappen clocked a 1m29.179s effort aboard his Red Bull, with Russell crossing the line 0.306s down. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, will start from ninth on the grid.Read Also:


Formula 1F1 ...

read on

The reigning champion had taken a back seat during the opening two stages of qualifying but, when it came down to Q3, he set a demanding benchmark of 1m29.421s - and then beat his own effort amid the final runs to settle on a 1m29.179s.This was slower than Leclerc's time from Q2, but the Monegasque was unable to replicate that effort in the final runs of the Q3 session, and could only manage a ...

read on

Last year, Mercedes stuck to its troublesome 2022 concept, which it realised was a mistake as soon as it showed up to winter testing.The team rallied to finish second in the constructors' championship, but the recalcitrant handling and lack of predictability of the W14 left both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell struggling for consistency.Mercedes has appeared at this weekend's Bahrain ...

read on

Mercedes has been consistent in saying its W15 is a step forward compared to the recalcitrant W13 and W14 cars with which it opened F1’s latest ground-effect era in 2022 and 2023, but mainly in the sense that its handling is more predictable.As he addressed the media in the Bahrain paddock ahead of this weekend’s season opener, Russell was asked if there was any specific hangover from the ...

read on

Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz had led the final morning session from Red Bull's Sergio Perez before running was interrupted by a broken drain cover for the second day in a row.Because repairs halted the test for 1h17, the decision was taken to cancel the planned one-hour lunch break and carry on all the way to the chequered flag at 7pm local time.There was early trouble for McLaren, which added ...

read on

Russell had a full day in the car in Bahrain on Wednesday, before Hamilton took over on Thursday.While the team's programme meant that Russell's headline times were modest relative to those of rivals, he says that it was already clear that the car is an improvement.Russell and Hamilton both lacked confidence in the rear end of last year's W14, and crucially that trait appears to have been ...

read on

Having first run at a filming day in Bahrain earlier this week, Russell had exclusive use of the car for the opening day of pre-season testing on Wednesday.Read Also:


Formula 12024 Bahrain F1 test: Verstappen heads first day by 1.1s from Norris


Despite ending the day a low-key 12th on the timesheets, 2.765 seconds adrift of the pace-setting Red Bull of Max Verstappen, Russell ...

read on

That comes down to typical sportsperson bravado – but the psychological boost of such an approach, to take the positives and shut out the negativity, has long been clear at the top level of all sporting echelons.So, when Russell said in an interview with select media including Motorsport.com at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that, “no doubt, it’s been probably the toughest season I’ve ever ...

read on

Wolff says he has no concerns about potentially having to block the flow of information on future development to Hamilton, suggesting that it’s too early to make a call on how that process might work.Logic suggests that Hamilton will henceforth be frozen out of any discussions on 2026, when the new F1 regulations come in.However, inevitably there will be a crossover between development work ...

read on

Mercedes made a surprise call to continue with its ‘zeropod’ sidepod design and overall car concept first conceived in 2022’s recalcitrant W13 at the start of F1’s new ground-effect era, with the team mistakenly believing it could be made into a Red Bull challenger following Russell’s win ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.  But Mercedes swiftly moved to ...

read on

The Mercedes duo notably made contact during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix and then crashed at Turn 1 in Qatar, for which Hamilton (who was eliminated) took full responsibility.Hamilton also appeared reluctant to follow a strategy call in Japan, with the team asking him to slow to give DRS to Russell to help him fight off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in the closing stages.Russell said these ...

read on

As the 2023 campaign concluded with the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix running back-to-back with the season finale in the Middle East – forcing people to overcome a 12-hour time difference in three days – many drivers, team personnel and championship staff were coming down with sickness at Yas Marina.Although a 24-round schedule for next year has already been released, with China reinstated ...

read on

Abu Dhabi's one-day test is a combined exercise to hand Pirelli extra tyre data while also providing a chance for rookie drivers to gather valuable miles. All teams ran two cars, one for each assignment.Russell caused the most notable incident by crashing in Turn 6 four hours into the session, after a suspected technical failure punted the Mercedes driver into the barriers.The incident, which ...

read on