Mercedes driver, George Russell, was not happy with his performance after the Imola GP, calling it a “disastrous day” and was “glad to see the chequered flag.” The Briton calls on himself and Mercedes to “go back to the drawing board.”
George Russell started the race with “high hopes”, starting in third after an adventurous tyre choice in qualifying. The Briton had hope after vying for the lead at the start. However, after a mix of strategy and pace, he had to concede his P7 finish.
After, Russell was not happy with his performance. During the first round of pit stops, he ends up in P11 with lots of traffic ahead. Climbing up was a challenge for the 27-year-old as he had “no pace”. The Briton alluded to his frustration to the media after the race, saying he had a“disastrous day”.
“I made a great start and I was hoping Oscar was going to move over slightly just to block Max in but didn’t and then it was just downhill from there. Disastrous day, I had no pace and I was glad to see the chequered flag.”
Russell knew that the race was going to be “challenging” due to the track conditions and his W16’s performance at the Imola GP.
“We knew it was going to be challenging – we’ve always been slow when it’s hot out there and today it was hot,” Russell added
A “challenging” race for Mercedes
Russell was not the only Mercedes struggling. The Briton’s teammate Andrea “Kimi” Antonelli did not finish his home race after a power unit issue. The 27-year-old noted that today was “the worst day we’ve had as a team in a couple of years”.
Russell continued, “Right now I don’t have any answers, it was in terms of pace probably the worst day we’ve had as a team in a couple of years. We need to go back to the drawing board.”
Teammate Antonelli noted, “To be honest I had high hopes but then after a couple of laps I started to have the throttle issue and then at the end it completely went off,” he said.
The 18-year-old had a bit more positive outlook to the W16’s performance, saying the pace was “not too bad”.
“Of course is a shame but it’s things that happen and I think overall the pace was not too bad at the end of the day.”
