Russell saved, like Leclerc
The final starting grid for what will be tomorrow’s Azerbaijan GP was made official about four hours after the provisional one was published. Part of the wait was due to the decision that the stewards had to make on the case of George Russell who – like Charles Leclerc in FP3 – was investigated for not slowing down under yellow flags. If found guilty, the English Mercedes driver would have been penalized with a move back on the grid of at least three positions and would have lost the fifth position he had gained on the track.
The stewards, however, just as in the case of Leclerc and using what was decided against the Ferrari driver as a yardstick, sanctioned the #63 with a simple reprimand. Reading the official document published by the FIA, one discovers how in reality the episode involving Russell found – at the judging panel – “even more mitigating circumstances” than the episode involving the winner of the last Italian GP.
“This was a very similar case to that of Charles Leclerc (document 29) – it is explicitly written in the press release – with some important differences. Sainz ran long into the run-off area at Turn 2. Russell was the next car on the track, was already fully braking and, unlike Leclerc, was already approaching the corner when the yellow flag was displayed on the far right of the straight. The Stewards consider that Russell could not reasonably have seen that flag and, even if he had seen it, he would not have been able to adjust his braking. Once around the corner, Russell accelerated normally. Unlike Leclerc, however, the green light panel between Turns 2 and 3 was significantly further out from the track and more difficult to see when accelerating than in the case of Leclerc. Russell did not even benefit from DRS in that area, as it was automatically deactivated, thus slowing his lap. In Leclerc’s decision, the Stewards highlighted many mitigating factors. In this case, the Stewards consider that there are further mitigating factors.”.
“I’m quite happy with my qualifying laps,” Russell said at the end of Q3, awaiting the stewards’ verdict. “They all looked good, but unfortunately we didn’t have the pace to fight for pole position. We did good times in FP3, but we knew we had a bit of an advantage, having lapped right at the end of the session. We thought we were fighting just outside the top three. So it’s a bit frustrating to be half a tenth off third, but P5 is not a bad place to start. Ferrari are usually very quick on the road circuits and they showed that today. I don’t think we’ll be able to compete with them for the win tomorrow, but I hope we’ll be fighting for the podium.”
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