The Mercedes driver has now spoken out about his decision to not pit during the race after finishing fourth at the Brazilian Grand Prix over the weekend in a soggy Sao Paulo.
During the turbulent Brazilian Grand Prix, George Russell has been left to regret his choice to pit.
The Mercedes driver finished the rain-soaked race in Sao Paulo in fourth place. Max Verstappen finally ended his protracted wait for a victory after a tumultuous few hours.
Russell had started the race in P2 after qualifying, but he stayed clear of title contender Lando Norris after the first corner after a delayed start. Every driver lost the chance to pit when a virtual safety car appeared.
However, they did finally arrive just before the race was red-flagged due to Franco Colapinto’s crash. Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, and Pierre Gasly took advantage of the decision, ultimately securing podium positions.
Russell, a Mercedes star, has now spoken out. He feels that he ought to have disregarded the team’s orders to pit, just like he did in Spa, where he was eventually disqualified after claiming the chequered flag.
Russell described the orders he received as follows: “It was ‘box’.” “Stay out,” I said. I said, “stay out,” and it was “box” once more. “Box” was said once more. “I want to stay out,” I said. You have to go for the final one after that.
“You have to follow your instincts sometimes. It went quite well the last time I trusted my instincts. Who knows, we might have won the race today. However, we would have controlled the pace for the first 30 laps and been in the lead at the restart if we hadn’t pitted. We also had excellent straightline speed with Lando in the rear. The bare minimum would have been P2.
Russell has since asserted that, in light of the deteriorating circumstances in Sao Paulo, he might have had a clearer idea of whether or not to pit. “From a team’s perspective, it’s not obvious at all,” he continued.
Because of the undriveable conditions, it was evident from the cockpit that it would be a red flag or safety car. The rain continued to fall. Above me, I could see the large black cloud. After that, I had Shov [Andrew Shovlin, engineering director for Mercedes trackside] overrule my engineer and say “box.”
“As a team, we’re attempting to make the best choices possible at the moment. Of the drivers who pitted, we finished highest, while the guys who didn’t pit obviously finished 1-2-3. I would therefore take a tiny bit of satisfaction from that.
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