Mercedes’ George Russell revealed the difficulty of securing P2 at the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix after a battle with his car.
George Russell was in a spot of bother with his car’s electrical systems, even being unable to use DRS.
Russell amazed the F1 paddock with his impressive qualifying lap to take the P2 position on Saturday, before a grid penalty took the Brit to P3.
But, Russell sprang into action in the first Turn 1 of the GP, overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to sit behind race winner Oscar Piastri.
Fighting off McLaren’s Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, during the final laps in Sakhir, as his technological issues got worse.
“Hard” win for George Russell at the F1 Bahrain GP
Speaking in Parc Ferme after the race, Russell admitted that he worked hard to keep Norris at bay with his issues.
“I felt under control for a moment, and then suddenly we had a break-by-wire failure. So, suddenly the pedal was going long, and then it was going short. And I didn’t know what was going on. The steering wheel wasn’t working properly. So, it was really hard forward to keep Lando behind.
“I think one more lap would have got me pretty comfortably. But, nevertheless, really pleased with P2.”
George Russell’s DRS Incident
Russell’s DRS system had become faulty near the end of the race, which has now left him with a post-race investigation incoming from the FIA.
Russell was then asked about the failures and the concerns he had while defending Norris from behind.
“We were having all sorts of failures. And, basically, we did an override on the DRS. and on one lap, I clicked the radio button and the DRS opened. So, straight away, closed it again, backed off, nothing gained.
“I lost more than I gained.
“It was only open for a split second. So, kind of goes to show you the amount of issues we were having. But, as I said, we’re just really pleased we were able to do it.”
