Mercedes’ George Russell went the distance in the Japanese Grand Prix, only to return back where he started.
George Russell delivered a smooth performance at the F1 Japanese GP, securing himself a comfortable fifth position behind Charles Leclerc, the McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, along with race winner Max Verstappen.
The British driver, who started the race in P5, drove comfortably throughout the weekend but realistically believed he could only gain a P4 finish.
A ‘tyre degradation’ masterclass from Mercedes
George Russell enjoyed a well-executed one-stop strategy and gap, which was the best and most optimal decision against the more dominant McLarens and Red Bull, which allowed Russell not to fret about his position at the Japanese GP.
After a quick 2.3-second pit stop that placed him on new hard tyres behind Yuki Tsunoda wth a little breathing room, he continued to rise back up into his position.
But Russell believes it is all down to the tyres and after the race said:
“I think these last two weekends the tyre compounds have been too hard for resurfacing and it’s been an easy one stop both races and that’s just really taken any fun from the strategy.
“I hope we can maybe react as a sport because, as I said, we all finished where we started, and there just wasn’t enough difference in the tyre degradation.”
“I think in Stint 1 I feel I could have stayed with the McLarens, but we really don’t know.
A frustrating race for George Russell
Russell also spoke of his frustrations at not being able to make progress during the race.
“Ultimately, you could only go as fast as the driver in front of you. You saw this with McLaren, they were the same as Verstappen. If they were ahead, would they be one tenth quicker or five tenths quicker?
“For me, I was just doing the same lap times as Charles. I think realistically, P4 would have been the maximum from this weekend. We finished P5, so not ideal, but not terrible.”
This comes after his podium at China, where he placed P3 and remained sensible with Mercedes’ current team standing in the competitive pecking order, saying, “And we know at the moment we’re trying our best to catch McLaren—these guys are doing an amazing job.”
