Russell, Sainz was a nightmare
George’s Mexico race Russell had a key moment, decisive in the negative. After the restart from a standing start made necessary by Kevin Magnussen’s accident, the British driver mounted a medium set with which he aimed to be aggressive throughout the second part of the race. In the very first stages he succeeded, overtaking Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo, but Russell’s plans ran aground against Carlos Sainz.
While Lewis Hamilton tried everything against Charles Leclerc, managing to overtake him while taking quite a few risks, the #63 was unable to do the same with the other Ferrari driver. That he had an SF-23 that was much faster on the straight and above all, according to Russell, it moved when braking, which prevented him from overtaking.
Russell’s words
Russell had already complained via radio to his team about the Spaniard’s changes in trajectory, but the race commissioners did not deem it necessary to proceed against Smooth Operator. The #63 held the point after the Grand Prix: “The rules are quite clear“Russell said. “It wasn’t an aggressive or noticeable move, but once it braked it moved to close me in and when braking from such high speeds it’s very easy to lock up. But there is nothing to worry about“.
The Briton then explained the reasons for his bad finish to the race: “I’m not too worried because I know why. I had a problem with the brakes overheating and so I had to lift my foot. In doing so, however, I completely lost the temperature of the tires and in the last 15 laps I no longer had any grip, I felt like I was driving on ice and it wasn’t a good feeling. It’s never fun when you’re the defending driver and you’re behind“.
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