“It wasn’t clear whether we could actually make it to the end,” Mercedes reveal issue which could have derailed George Russell’s São Paulo GP win
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George Russell
George Russell’s win at the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday is undoubtedly the best moment of his relatively young Formula 1 career. When his move to Mercedes was announced, expectations were high, but for many, he surpassed them. He has all but secured P4 in the championship unless he retires in Abu Dhabi and Lewis Hamilton wins the race with the fastest lap point.
Few would have expected him to be the first Mercedes driver to take pole position (Hungary) and win a race (Brazil), and even fewer would have expected him to outscore his seven-time world champion teammate, but he’s done all three of these things. He overtook Verstappen to win the sprint race and then held off his teammate (albeit one with some damage) in the feature to take a fantastic maiden win.
But it could all have gone away for him, as he had a potentially terminal issue. As per CRASH, speaking after the race, Mercedes’ team principal Toto Wolff said: “We had a water leak on the car throughout the race and it wasn’t clear whether we could actually make it to the end.”
While the water leak could have become an issue, the team agreed to let him (at least try) to drive to the end: “We talked about it on the intercom and we all agreed we’re going to let him drive to the end even without water, on whatever was there to cool it and just try to finish the race.” Moreover, Russell was not even informed that there was an issue.
George Russell was not informed of the water leak by Mercedes
If the water leak had turned out to be terminal, it would have been incredibly cruel, but not the first time his maiden win would have gotten away from him due to an issue. George Russell had led the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix for most of the race when called upon to replace Lewis Hamilton. But when he pit on lap 63, the team put a ‘mixed’ tyre set on his car, and he had to come in again, losing the lead in the process.
This time it would have been a water leak. But Mercedes did not inform the Briton about it, as explained by Mercedes’ communications director Bradley Lord: “About half distance, we knew about it and George wasn’t informed. So he wasn’t aware. We were concerned at one point that we would be four or five laps from the finish and not making it but then it did by the skin of its teeth.”
Toto Wolff cited the Sakhir GP and said that the team had let him down then even though he had deserved to win. Now, however, they have made amends, and he finally has the victory he could have had on the board two years ago. If Mercedes give him a good enough car in Abu Dhabi, he has another chance to extend his tally there. But if not in Abu Dhabi, it seems likely he will win more races in the future.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)