George Russell has revealed how his line around the outside to pass Charles Leclerc in the Bahrain Grand Prix was one that he practiced on his reconnaissance laps.
The Mercedes driver was running third in the opening laps behind Leclerc, who was struggling with a front brake problem that saw a 100-degree split in temperature.
Russell had sized Leclerc up into Turn 1 and took advantage of him being out of position and the second DRS zone to dance around the Ferrari into the Turn 4 right-hander.
The Briton has divulged how he noticed a change in wind direction during his warm-up laps to the grid which made him aware he could brake deeper to make the move.
“Yeah that was fun, that was fun,” he said regarding the tussle with Leclerc.
“Of course, I’m a little bit off guard, the wind changed, we had the headwind into Turn 4, so I knew I could brake really, really deep.
“I practiced it on my laps to the grid. When he went to the inside, I was like, ‘That’s exactly where I wanted him to go’, and got the move done on the outside.”
Although the drivers don’t push to the maximum on such tours prior to the race start, Russell explained how he was still testing lines to get an idea of the grip available.
Expanding on how the process of identifying that overtaking spot materialised, Russell added: “Just practising different lines and seeing how much grip there is on the outside of corners. Trying to utilise the conditions and take advantage of that.
“So, you know, it’s a big change today with the conditions. Yeah, fun while it lasts.”
Mercedes had been hopeful that its decision to compromise its one-lap potential for a race-orientated set-up would provide an edge over the duration of a longer stint.
However, both Russell and team-mate Lewis Hamilton had to manage engine cooling concerns, resulting in the Mercedes pair dropping to fifth and seventh respectively.
“It was challenging, the engine was overheating after lap three as soon as I overtook Charles I had big red alarms on the steering wheel,” Russell bemoaned.
“We had to turn the power down to stop the engine overheating, it cost us probably four-tenths a lap and by that point we just went backwards so it’s a real shame because we didn’t show the car’s true potential, yeah we need to understand how we got that one wrong.”
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