Portuguese Grand Prix – Russell: “We were all hoping for an excellent result&”;
After coming so close to Q3 in qualifying on Saturday, George Russell was unable to build on his superb 11th place on the grid. The race ended in a painful 16th place.
The British driver, who is protected by Mercedes, was confronted with the harsh reality regarding the performance of his Williams. The FW34B seems effective over one lap but the race proved to be much more complicated, and the windy conditions did not help.
« We were all hoping for an excellent result, but it was extremely difficult. With the wind, following another car closely is simply impossible,” commented number 63 on the official Formula 1 website’s microphone.
« This is my most challenging race since at least 2019. In the first few laps, I did my best to keep my car on track. And, as we said in Bahrain, the season will be just as complicated.
Sometimes you drive the car, other times it drives you.
George Russell insists on noting several positive points: « Now we know the main weaknesses of the car. We know that it is very sensitive to the wind and disturbances from another car. Some laps, when the wind calms down, it is able to go at least six tenths faster. And as soon as it picks up again, we are nowhere. Sometimes you drive the car, other times it’s the car that drives you. We will be able to seize opportunities when conditions are calmer.
This is a translation of the bold option chosen in the development of this single-seater, namely to make it very sharp to maximize the chances of scoring points in certain races. The downside is that this means that the drivers will have to face very complicated driving conditions in other circumstances, on less favorable circuits…
