After the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, Mercedes driver George Russell is upset about a costly mistake that cost him a “comfortable third place”. The Brit delayed his tire change until the rain started and was washed up from eighth to third place with this strategy.
But after his Intermediates pit stop on Lap 55, Russell appeared to have been distracted by a yellow flag for the lapped Lance Stroll and joined the Aston Martin driver on the Mirabeau run-off.
Not only did Russell fall behind Ocon and his team-mate Lewis Hamilton as a result, but he was hit by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez while reversing out of the run-off zone, earning the Brit a five-second penalty for “unsafe re-entry”.
Russell: That’s what happens when you’re not focused!
“I’m really angry with myself because P3 was almost guaranteed,” says Russell. “There was a yellow flag, I went off the gas and as soon as I touched the brakes I locked up and followed Stroll onto the bypass. That’s probably a lesson that you make mistakes like that when you’re not on point and you’re not focused .”
“Had it not been for the yellow flag, I probably would have concentrated more. Then I wouldn’t have gone off the track and wouldn’t have cost the team a comfortable third place.”
Russell also reported strange behavior at the rear of his Mercedes W14 after his collision with Perez. But once the car settled down, he suggested the team let him pass Hamilton for P4 and protect a buffer to Leclerc, knowing his five-second penalty would be added up after crossing the finish line.
Russell explains: team order please “no obligation”
“I definitely damaged the car a bit. I wasn’t sure if I could continue but it worked itself out over the course of the laps. I think the toes bent at the rear. I was really uncomfortable in the car but we were the fastest on the track at that time so I don’t really know what was going on.”
“I was held up by Ocon and Lewis and Charles came after me. I really didn’t want to risk anything against Lewis in these conditions. But with the five-second penalty, if Charles caught him, it could have been a good buffer had.”
However, with Leclerc ultimately unable to gain ground, Russell Hamilton followed in fifth place, a safe ten seconds ahead of the Ferrari driver.
“In the end it wasn’t necessary and I told the team there was no commitment and no pressure from me and once I knew we were safe from Charles I just brought it home,” he added added. “But yes, it’s a bitter disappointment when you do everything right 98 percent of the time, but that one little mistake costs everything.”
Wolff tells Funk to Russell: ‘It’s just encouraging’
Russell’s request on the radio, however, prompted Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff to intervene himself and calm down the young Briton on the team radio. When asked about this, the 25-year-old says: “I probably just took my frustration out on myself. Yes, nothing more than that. I think as a driver you sometimes want to get your frustration off your chest.”
“And maybe it’s not necessarily easy for everyone to understand why. And I actually noticed that my mistake wasn’t shown on TV. I saw the replay after the race, so I don’t think many people realized it that we were actually P3 on the track and lost that place.”
After the race, Wolff also commented on a possible team order: “I’ve done it before,” he says over his radio to Russell during the race. “It’s just encouraging or a little reassuring. Sometimes drivers don’t see if they’re fast or not.”
“I think when you’re slipping all over the place and the grip is awful and somebody tells you that you’re actually pretty fast. And I do that because the race engineers are really looking at the tires and the strategy. And in that respect I’m trying easy to support from the emotional side.”