“I don’t think we can sustain this for three years,” George Russell hits out at FIA after Azerbaijan qualifying
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George Russell
George Russell the Mercedes Formula One driver has blasted the FIA after Azerbaijan Qualifying for the new regulations and believes that there is no need for the new cars to run as low as they have run during the current season.
George Russell feels that with the new generation of cars it is just a “matter of time” before F1 witnesses a major incident on the track. The new regulations have allowed teams to run their cars very close to the ground and the Brit is of the opinion that it is very dangerous especially when cars are zooming past in straight lines.
The Mercedes team has suffered from Porpoising throughout the current season and it has put them on the back foot as compared to Red Bull and Ferrari. While porpoising has made the ride bumpy it has also increased the risk factor for the drivers and Russell is certainly not in favor of the current situation.
During the Azerbaijan Qualifying a lot of cars on track were bottoming out and George Russell while talking on the radio with his team said that it is “unnecessary” and believes it could lead to mechanical issues that could prove fatal going ahead into the season.
After Quali, Russell said, “It’s just a matter of time before we see a major incident, a lot of us can barely keep the car in a straight line over these bumps.”
“We’re going around the last corners at 320kph, bottoming out, you can visibly see on the tarmac how close the cars are running to the ground.”
“Formula 2 is in the same position as well, they’ve got a similar philosophy, it’s unnecessary with the technology that we have in today’s environment, it seems unnecessary that we’re running an F1 car millimeters from the ground, and it’s a recipe for disaster.”
“I don’t know what the future holds but I don’t think we can sustain this for three years or however long these regulations are in force for.”
“It’s not a very comfortable position to be in,” said Russell while delving into the issue.
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Fernando Alonso agrees with George Russell
While George Russell is disappointed with the state of affairs the former two-time Champion Fernando Alonso has also agreed with the Brit. The Spaniard labeled the porpoising the “worst of the last 20 years” but also indicated that it could have been just because of the characteristics of the Azerbaijan circuit.
“I think it’s a combination also on this track, it has been very bumpy on the straight also with the old cars, so this year it’s exaggerated.”
“I think Jeddah, it was very smooth, and Australia and no one was complaining.”
“It’s going to be very difficult to agree for all the teams [to make changes].”
“But yeah, I wish they do something for the young boys. For me, it’s OK for a few more years!“
Alonso teammate Ocon has also labeled the 2022 cars as “terrible” but reckons his car is “probably on the best range compared to all the others.”
“It’s still a disaster to drive these cars on a bumpy circuit,” said Ocon.
“It is not even that bumpy, when we are gonna go to Montreal or Singapore, that’s gonna hurt.”
“We should try and make the cars a little bit better to ride because here we need to avoid the bumps and you can see the car pulling to one side and all that in the straight, so it is on the edge.”
The former 7-time F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton has also weighed in on the situation and has previously said, “just keeping the thing out of the wall on the fast, high-speed, curves.”
“Today it’s bottoming through corners where you are doing 180 miles an hour, big, big bottoming, and it’s not really a lot they can do to stop it.”
“We can’t have this for four years of this car, so I think they do need to work on it for the future. All the drivers spoke about it before.”
The bottoming out is a major concern for the drivers and after looking at what George Russell and Co. have said about the situation, the FIA should immediately start looking at the problem so that any future accident could be prevented.
The concerns of the drivers are genuine because they are the ones who are putting their lives on the line every time they go out on track, and if they are not happy with the current situation it is the duty of the FIA to come up with solutions that are going to last.
What are your opinions on the F1 driver’s concerns?
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)