George Russell claimed yet another podium for the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, after a superb third-place finish at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Having started in fifth, Russell had a very lonely race. The Brit inherited third-place after both Scuderia Ferrari drivers retired with suspected power unit failures, giving Russell a much welcomed podium finish.
The result sees Russell close the gap to Charles Leclerc in third in the Drivers’ standings, with just seventeen points between the pair.
Russell was very happy with the result, but addressed the horrific porpoising issue.
“We were smashing the ground every single corner and every lap for 90 mins, it was pretty brutal – I’ll sleep well tonight! It’s what we’ve got to deal with it at the moment, there’s not much we can do in the short-term. There’s lots of intelligent people, hugely talented engineers in the sport so I’m sure we’ll find a solution. We didn’t get the podium on pure pace today but we did it because the team have worked very hard to deliver a reliable car, we did a good job to be ahead of the midfield and obviously we picked up on Ferrari’s misfortune.
“As a team, we take that as a positive and kudos to everyone at Brackley and Brixworth on all the hard work. We know we aren’t quick enough and we’ve got a long way to go to bring performance. We’re experimenting and trying things, one week turnaround to Montreal will be tough to find the solution but hopefully we’ll get there soon.”
“I can’t express the pain” – Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton looked destroyed after the race at the Baku City Circuit, with the seven-time World Champion struggling to get out of his W13 post race. The Brit finished fourth but complained of back pain all race, due to the aggressiveness of the bouncing.
Hamilton was made to work for his fourth-spot, after twice having to battle his way through the points places due to pitting during both Virtual Safety Cars. Hamilton’s best moves of the race came on Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, with Hamilton catching the latter in the race’s closing stages.
Following the race, Hamilton explained how he battled through the afternoon, the Brit believes that the team are losing “at least a second”.
“I just got through that race on adrenaline, biting down on my teeth through the pain. I can’t express the pain that you experience, especially on the straight here. And at the end, you’re just thinking of all the people relying on you for the points. But we’re in such a good position still!
“Third and fourth is a great result for the team. The team did a great job with the strategy and once we’ve fixed this bouncing we’re going to be right there in the race. We’re losing over a second for sure just with bouncing, or at least a second. I’ll be at the factory tomorrow, we’ve got have some good discussions and keep pushing.”
Credit: LAT Images