Race ends in the gravel trap: George Russell (Mercedes) explains his retirement at Spa

There was major drama involving George Russell last week on the first lap of the race at Spa: after just a few corners, the Mercedes driver suddenly dropped back – due to a problem with his power unit. Because he suddenly found himself further down the field with less power, he unfortunately also collided with his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton. For George Russell, the race ended in the gravel after just a few hundred metres.

The problem: incorrect calibration

A few days later, on media day in Budapest, George Russell explained exactly what had gone wrong with his car. Russell: “There were figures on the screen that weren’t calibrated properly. So it wasn’t anything to do with the hardware or anything like that.”

Russell had two problems

The Briton also explained: “There were two problems. The energy release wasn’t optimal over the course of the lap. We saw a similar situation with Piastri as well.” He was referring to the McLaren driver, who also struggled at Spa. Russell: “That was one problem. On top of that, we had something else, which was also linked to the calibration not being quite right. It wasn’t just a matter of numbers. But we now know which figures were probably off. And hopefully the power unit can now reach its full potential.”

Did the problem first arise at Spa or had it been there before? Russell: “We’re not 100 per cent sure, because there were a few issues at Silverstone, but also moments when everything was fine. We’re not sure. The Sprint qualifying was poor, but in the Grand Prix qualifying it was okay. But at Spa it was definitely worse. It’s the track that’s most sensitive to power this season. But for me, that’s all in the past now.” Russell says the problem should now be sorted for the race in Hungary.

The Brit on the Hungarian Grand Prix: “It’s going to be a challenging weekend. It’s the track where power matters the least. We’ve got Mercedes hot on our heels. They should be able to keep up particularly well here. Kimi (team-mate Antonelli, ed.) is, of course, in great form at every race weekend, so it won’t be plain sailing. But I’m looking forward to it.”

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