George Russell is advocating for a longer sprint race

George Russell had a rather complicated Saturday at the Red Bull Ring. He first encountered an issue with his car during the Shootout Sprint, which left him starting the sprint race in 15th position. However, the British driver was able to make his way up to 8th place by the end of the race. This was mainly due to the decision to switch to slick tires on a drying track, even though it was somewhat done blindly.

“In these conditions, when you are stuck behind other cars, it is really difficult to distinguish whether it is (the water, editor’s note: ) from the cars ahead or if it is due to the wet track. But I was confident enough that the track was dry enough, although there were still 13 laps to go. I love these conditions,” adds the Mercedes driver.

He nevertheless specifies that he still had a good pace with the intermediate tires, “we might have gained one or two more positions, but it was a team effort.”

Are slick tires mandatory?

In the end, George Russell had a good time during this race with a unique format, although he would like to make one or two changes: “It was an enjoyable race, I think it would have been boring if it had been dry from start to finish. I still think the Sprint race is a bit too short. In dry conditions, the medium tires can last for 13 or 14 laps. For a 24-lap race, it would have been easy to reach the podium. I hope to see a small change somewhere.”

The British also believes that it would be necessary to make soft tires mandatory for the sprint race, “this would bring a little more action,” he affirms.

As for the problems encountered by Mercedes this weekend, George Russell remains calm: “I know that we will come back, I am not worried, I just want a clean race tomorrow.”