Home   Spalding   Sport   Article

Subscribe Now

Formula 1 driver George Russell is looking forward to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix




George Russell is eagerly awaiting the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend after engine troubles blighted his first race of the 2024 Formula One season.

Despite starting third on the grid, a beleaguered Russell failed to have a podium finish at the opening round in Bahrain.

Russell had a mixed bag of perfomances in the Friday practice session, taking seventh in the morning and coming in an impressive second in the afternoon.

George Russell. Photo: LAT Images
George Russell. Photo: LAT Images

Qualifying was a more successful endeavour for the driver from Tydd St Giles as, despite only scraping through the two opening rounds, Russell pulled off a tidy lap to secure third on the grid - his highest starting position on this track layout in Bahrain.

Starting on the soft tyres alongside Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, Russell had a strong getaway and as such held third place after the opening lap.

A handful of laps later, Russell pulled off an excellent overtake on Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to take second place - a position he remained in until he made his first pit stop on lap 12.

This dropped the 26-year-old to 12th, however, a string of overtakes led to Russell making his way back to third.

However, in the balmy Bahrain climate, Russell's engine began to overheat which meant he had to reduce his pace to avoid recording not finishing. Due to this, he was quickly passed by Sainz and dropped to fourth.

After another pit stop, Russell emerged in ninth but fought his way back up to fourth following a neat overtake on Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.

In the closing stages of the race, the Brit came under pressure from Leclerc and an untimely lock-up allowed the Monegasque through which meant Russell crossed the line in fifth.

After the race, Russell said: "It was a strange day.

"Both Lewis (Hamilton) and I faced a similar issue. The power unit was overheating from very early on, so we were managing that throughout. It was a shame as we made a really good start.

"I managed to make a good pass on Leclerc for second but, very quickly, I had warnings on my steering wheel.

"To manage the overheating, we were losing tenths-of-a-second per lap and it was very difficult to hold off anyone behind me. It’s a shame that we didn’t get to show any real potential of the car.

"Thankfully, it’s not an issue we need to be concerned about. We got the cooling configuration wrong. We just need to understand why and make sure we don’t do that again.

"It was simply an incorrect decision - we’ve got plenty of margin to cool the power unit more. I think without the issue we would have been in the fight for third place. It's only the first race of the season so let's see what we can do this week."

Russell almost had a taste of champagne at last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he was provisionally on the podium, however, a penalty for Alonso was overturned reducing the Mercedes driver to fourth.



Comments | 0
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More