George Russell explains his FURIOUS team radio rant at the Dutch GP

George Russell sees the Dutch GP as a missed opportunity for him and the Mercedes F1 team.

George Russell explains his FURIOUS team radio rant at the Dutch GP

George Russell (Via IMAGO)

George Russell, the Mercedes F1 driver, had a pretty tumultuous time during last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. After starting from P3, he was in a very advantageous position to rack up a podium finish at the event. Still, under changing weather conditions, his team made some extremely poor pit wall decisions, ultimately leading to him losing several positions.

After the Brackley-based-teams botch, George Russell came onto the team radio and went on a furious rant in which he said, “I was forecast for a podium? F**k, how did we mess this up?” He was fuming inside the W14’s cockpit, and ultimately, he ended his race in a disappointing seventeenth place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYT73Sod5I8

However, after the race, during his interview, he was quite calm, and while explaining his team’s radio reaction, he said, as reported by Silverarrows.net, “We were expecting the rain to stay for one or two minutes, but it ended up staying for close to 10 minutes. It was ready for intermediate tyres but I thought I could brave it out for a lap or two more if it was only going to be one or two minutes more of rain. It obviously wasn’t.”

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“I think we’d rather have a fast car and a bad day, then the opposite. But, a missed opportunity.” Looking at the reaction of the 25-year-old, it is quite clear that he is disappointed with his result but has also taken some of the blame on himself for testing his luck for a bit more time when everyone else was diving into the pits under wet weather conditions.

Discover: Oscar Piastri brands the chaotic Dutch GP as a ‘baptism by fire’

George Russell had a puncture during the dying stages of the Dutch GP

George Russell and Lando Norris (Credits: Planet F1)
George Russell and Lando Norris (Credits: Planet F1)

While George Russell feels he missed an opportunity to score a podium at Zandvoort, he could have at least had a Top 7 finish had he not had an unfortunate puncture during the event stages. He was in a battle with Lando Norris for P7, and during their tussle, the Brit incurred a puncture, which pretty much ended his race.

While shedding light on the same, he said, “It was when we were side by side, into the chicane, after a lap. It was obviously for a few points. Bit of a shame. We had such a fast car today. All the decisions, and the weather, went against us. We need to look into what we could’ve done better. We clearly missed a big opportunity today.”

Despite ending up out of points in Zandvoort, George Russell is pleased with the pace that W14 showed at the Dutch GP. Seeing the drastic improvement in comparison to the first leg, he ardently believes that Mercedes can push the lights of Red Bull more during the upcoming events.

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