George Russell was “compromised” during his final stint in the
Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. The Briton started from pole in
Barcelona and led the opening stint, managing his pace well with
Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli behind. Unfortunately, a two-stop
strategy proved to be the wrong approach, with Hamilton securing
Ferrari’s first victory of the season on a three-stop strategy.
While the seven-time world champion capitalised on a well-timed
virtual safety car, the pace he possessed looked more than enough
to secure victory regardless. As for Russell, his pace suddenly
dropped during his final stint, to the extent that Antonelli
overtook him with only a handful of laps remaining. Fortunately for
the King’s Lynn-born driver, Antonelli suffered a very late
retirement following a mechanical issue, allowing Russell to finish
second. Following the grand prix, the Brackley-based outfit
revealed that Russell’s loss of pace was caused by an “incorrectly
adjusted” front wing, which affected the balance of his W17. “It
was great to see George, after a difficult run of results in the
last few Grands Prix, back at his best, taking pole, fighting for
the race win,” Lord commented in Mercedes’ post-Barcelona debrief
video. “[He was] doing that notwithstanding the fact that in our
final pit stop, we actually incorrectly adjusted the front wing,
owing to a problem with the adjuster gun. “It meant he was driving
with a very, very oversteery balance that certainly compromised his
pace in the final stages.”