George Russell didn’t hold back his frustration after an unexpected setback during the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying. His fiery reaction to Mercedes’ strategic mishaps highlights a bigger concern within the team.
George Russell, who drives for Mercedes, described his 17th-place qualification for the Hungarian Grand Prix as a “total disaster.” The frustration was palpable as Russell lamented the series of decisions that led to his early exit in Q1.
The debacle started when a red flag caused by Sergio Perez delayed the session by ten minutes, leading to light rainfall. Mercedes decided to send Russell out early to better his lap time. He managed to climb to 10th place but had to return to the pits because there wasn’t enough fuel in his car for another lap. This left him vulnerable as other drivers, including Valtteri Bottas from Sauber, improved their times and knocked Russell out of the qualifying.
“It was on me at the beginning. I didn’t think it was going to rain again, so I just thought the track would get quicker,” Russell explained. “I took it easy on lap one and suddenly it starts raining, and that was the most important lap. But it didn’t matter, the end was the quickest, and we had no fuel in the car to finish the session. No idea how that happened, and a total disaster.”
Russell also criticized the team for not adapting to the changing conditions. He described the incident as a result of “over-optimizing” instead of reacting to what was happening on the track. This sentiment wasn’t exclusive to Russell; Lewis Hamilton nearly missed Q2, showcasing the recurring issues the team faced.
“You can never take your eye off the ball. I think we need to have a proper sit-down as a team to understand what’s going on,” Russell added. “We’ve got the car to be fighting for the top three; we shouldn’t be standing here out of Q1. Lewis only just scraped through into Q3.”
The evident frustration in Russell’s words stems from the belief that the car itself is competitive enough to contend for top positions. However, strategic errors are costing valuable opportunities. Despite the setback, Russell remains hopeful about the race, aiming to fight for a top-six finish, even though starting from 16th place makes it a challenging task.
“I’m really quite angry right now because we’ve got such a fast car and we can’t be throwing away opportunities like this. It’ll be a difficult race. We will still be able to come through, maybe fight for the top six, but from P16, it’s not going to be easy.”
Russell’s critique of Mercedes’ strategy in Hungary underscores the tension within the team. As they seek to rectify these issues, the focus shifts to how they will adapt and avoid similar pitfalls in future races.
Source: Motorsport
