Mercedes Explains Decision to Retire George Russell at British Grand Prix
Formula 1 today witnessed a thrilling British Grand Prix, but for Mercedes, it was a bittersweet outing. The team has now shed light on the decision to retire George Russell from the race, citing a preventative measure to avoid further damage to his car’s power unit.
Russell, who started from pole position, led the pack in the early stages, but soon found himself slipping behind teammate Lewis Hamilton and both McLarens as the rain arrived. As he attempted to catch Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, Russell was called back to the pits, ending his Formula 1 standings hopes.
“We knew that we had an issue relatively early in the race, so we were tracking this from the first stint,” Shovlin explained in Mercedes’ British GP debrief video. “We didn’t know that it was going to be terminal, but it’s all linked to a leak that was in the water system that was causing the pressure to start to drift.”
Shovlin emphasized that the team’s priority was to protect the power unit, as finishing the race with a damaged engine would have resulted in a penalty later in the year. “So it was preventative, but there was no way that we were going to get to the chequered flag,” he added.
At the time of his retirement, Russell was running in fourth place at Silverstone. Hamilton, meanwhile, capitalized on his late switch to slicks to leapfrog Lando Norris’ McLaren and claim a record ninth win at the circuit.
Shovlin is confident that Russell would have secured at least fourth place had he remained in the race, and believes a podium finish was also within reach. “With a race like that, with the changing conditions, it’s quite hard to say this is where we would have finished,” he mused.
“If it had been a dry race start to finish, looking at how George got off the line, how he was able to build a gap, I think he would have had a pretty straightforward afternoon. But if you take the point where we actually decided to retire the car, we were on Intermediates, George was in P4, he was closing in on Max, so that was looking good.”
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