© Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
George Russell attended the 2025 Miami Grand Prix Thursday Drivers’ Press Conference. Here is the full transcript!
Q: George, let’s bring you in now. Three podiums from the opening five races. Is that a tally that matches with your pre-season expectation?
George RUSSELL: No, I think it’s probably better than our pre-season expectations, to be honest. The pace has fallen out where we thought – that step behind McLaren and then a close fight with Red Bull and Ferrari. We’ve been doing really well to get those podiums, but I don’t think it necessarily means we are the second fastest team. I think sort of on average we’re the third fastest team. We saw Charles had a great race last week and obviously Max the last couple of races, but we’ve just been nicely consistent and picking up points.
Q: Consistent, yes, but it looked like Saudi was the most difficult of the races so far. Having had a chance to debrief with the team, what conclusions have you reached?
GR: Tyres were too hot, really. That was a big problem. I think just pushing a bit too hard to try and keep up with the front two. Charles put in a really strong race. I was probably driving too quick for what the tyres and the car were capable of, and then we dropped off a cliff. Not too sure how this weekend’s going to pan out because in terms of temperatures and tyres, it’ll be relatively similar to Jeddah. We’ll have to wait and see and see if any of the learnings we’ve taken from last week translate into a bit of performance. I’m confident the quali pace will be there or thereabouts, but the race pace – there’s a bit more of a question mark.
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QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Craig Slater – Sky Sports) Question for George. With your GPDA hat on, President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has said that after constructive feedback from drivers, he’s looking at making improvements to the rules that govern driver conduct. Do you think that’s a very positive step?
GR: Yeah. Conceptually, yes. But obviously we want to see these things put into action rather than saying “we’re considering things” – you know, we all consider a lot of things. We’re clear we want changes and once they are implemented then we’ll comment. But for the time being, it’s being considered. So those words don’t mean anything until the change has been made.
Q: (Albert Fabrega – ESPN Latam) A question for all three. I’m sure you’ve reviewed the last Grand Prix – corner one, lap one, the incident between Oscar and Max. Do you feel the five-second penalty was correct? Should it have been ten seconds, or no further action? What’s your opinion?
Nico HÜLKENBERG: Well, I think these guys are fighting for the championship, you know, that’s what it looks like right now, and probably that will continue like this. So there are no gifts when you fight for a championship, and in racing in general. It’s lap one action, Turn 1 – you come in with quite high speed even though it’s not the longest of runs. So for me personally, I think it’s part of racing and these kind of things just happen.
Q: George, Lewis? Same, same?
GR: Yep.
Q: (Tom Cary – The Telegraph) Just to put to you the question about fatherhood – I know you’re not dads, but do you feel it could change Max as a person and as a driver? Do you have any hope that it might distract him?
GR: Yeah, I think we’re all professionals, but this is a personal part of your life. I guess for anyone who’s had a kid, it’s a pretty special moment. So yeah, all the best to him. As Nico says, I think for many people it probably brings things to your life. I know what it’s like when I see my nieces and nephews – they’re not my kids, but they bring me so much joy when I spend time with them. And you’ve seen drivers in the past win championships and races who’ve got kids, so I don’t see it changing anything on his professional level.
Q: (Molly Hudson – The Times) A question for George. Just following up on Craig’s question from earlier. The President’s Instagram post mentioned constructive dialogue. Have you actually had any dialogue with the President? Because I think after the open letter you said there hadn’t been a response. So did it come as new news to you reading it on Instagram?
GR: I mean, in short, yes. I mean, collectively we’ve not spoken any further since the open letter that was sent out. So whether that is the response – I’m not too sure. As I said, it’ll be great if changes were made and the drivers were at least heard. I think it’s just in the best interest for the sport and ensuring that some common sense is applied to these situations. As I said, I think all of us, we can comment on it when we see the action being taken rather than just the consideration.
Q: (Jon Noble – The Race) George, another one. You’re one of the few drivers who’ve raced with the cooling vest this year. But some drivers want to race with it but can’t because it adds too much weight onto their car. If it’s not declared from the GPDA’s perspective, does something need to be done to ensure everyone’s operating on the same playing field on this? Because obviously not all cars weigh the same without ballast.
GR: Yeah. I mean, I feel fortunate that I’ve had the chance to run with the cooling vest. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s definitely an improvement, I feel. Every car is also different – I think every cockpit runs at different temperatures. I know we’ve seen our cockpit getting up to 60 degrees before, and I think the heat hazard is at 31 degrees, I believe, or 30. But when you compound that with the sunlight and the temperature of the cockpit, it is like a sauna in the race car. So yeah, I don’t know. We’ve not collectively spoken about it, and not everybody’s in favour to run it – which is also fine. Somebody made the point recently – like football players on a cold day, some people are wearing gloves, some people have got short sleeve shirts on – and that should be the driver’s choice. Maybe the heat hazard should be reduced slightly because we’ve not yet gone over it. Saudi was hot, Bahrain was hot, here – maybe it could be adjusted by a few degrees.
Q: (Jenna Fryer – Associated Press) Some of the drivers have talked about some of the turns.
GR: Yeah. I mean, I enjoy coming to Miami. It’s a crazy race. The circuit is quirky. That tight section – we don’t love it, but it’s different. You know, the same like in Baku – we don’t love the castle section, it’s so tight and very challenging, but you don’t want every circuit to be the same either. It’s an amazing race. It’s improving every year. Things are looking better as well – driving to the paddock, it looks pretty cool. And where all of the team garages are set up inside the stadium – they’re the experts, we just drive the cars. It should stay like that.
Q: (Graham Harris (Motorsport Monday) Question for all three of you – but George mainly. The GPDA is a formal body of the drivers, but you don’t seem to have a formal relationship with the FIA, with structured meetings where you can actually sit down and come out and say, “we talked about this face to face.” You’re resorting to open letters and that type of thing. Do you think that position should change?
GR: I mean, it’s… I feel it’s like unprecedented times we’ve been in over the last 18 months with what’s been changed and what’s happening. I think when the GPDA was founded years ago, it wasn’t really to talk about politics – it was to talk about safety, improvements of the sport, improvements of the racing. Especially myself – I find myself talking about topics that I didn’t really have any intention of talking about. But we find ourselves in a time where we’re not focused on the things why we’re all here. We’re here to go racing, we’re here to create the best show for the fans, to have the fastest cars, the safest cars, the best technology, the best engineering – and yet we talk about fines and punishments and swearing. So yeah, maybe something should change. We’re open to it, but we just ultimately want the best for the sport.
Source: FIA.com
