© Stephen Reuss for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
George Russell believes the reason he had to retire from the Canadian Grand Prix was not his crash into the barrier, but an unrelated terminal brake issue.
At one point in the Canadian Grand Prix, George Russell crashed into the barrier after he rode a kerb in Turn 9.
The Briton picked up a puncture and destroyed his front wing, and had to retire his car later in the race.
“I don’t know if it was obvious from the TV, I just went a bit wide into Turn 8,” he explained after the race.
“I knew I was going to hit the kerb, but I wasn’t expecting the sausage kerb to have such a violent response, and next thing I’m in the air, I landed and lost the rear, and I’m in the wall.
“It all happened really quite suddenly. Sorry to the team, for sure there was P3, P4 on the cards for us both, but positives to take away that the car was reasonably competitive.”
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After his crash, George’s car was repaired in the pits, and he returned to the track in last place. He then had to make his way through the field.
“It didn’t feel 100% perfect, but it was absolutely good enough to drive,” George explained.
“I think the rear toe was a little bit out. We could have got home in P8, but we were in a lot of traffic, and the pre-race predictions, we weren’t obviously expecting to be in that position, hence why we got the brakes in the wrong place.”
George ultimately had to retire due to a brake issue, but he later explained he was “pretty sure” it was unrelated to the crash.
“Yeah, I need to look into it with the team, but I’m pretty sure it was just because I was in so much traffic we weren’t planning to be, and the brakes weren’t in the right spot.
“It was all quite sudden when it was too late. I think the thing with brakes, once you go over a certain oscillation threshold, there’s no recovering.
“It doesn’t matter how much you nurse them. They’re just on a rate you can’t recover.”
While George had to deal with the aforementioned issues, Lewis Hamilton managed to finish the race in P3. Russell says this is a good indication that the W14 is definitely improving.
“Yeah, I think going from Barcelona to here, two quite contrasting circuits, bodes well for the future.
“Of course, we’re as a team looking for more than just second-best. We need to close that gap to Red Bull.
“It definitely shows we’re on the right path,” the Briton concluded.
