George Russell has admitted that Formula 1 is “a bit strange at the moment” due to Red Bull’s unexpected troubles and Ferrari and Mercedes’ fluctuations in form.
After Mercedes won three out of four races heading into the summer break, missing out on a podium in the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort somewhat disappointed the Silver Arrows.
After qualifying third on the grid at Monza, Russell and Mercedes were hoping for a return to the podium or even fighting for victory, but the Briton’s race unravelled right from the outset.
Locking his brakes going into Turn 1 at lights out, Russell had to take to the run-off losing ground and seeing his podium chances fade.
“I just got caught out by Oscar [Piastri’s] braking point,” Russell said regarding his failed challenge of the front-row lockout McLarens.
“I took the brakes, started locking up, because I was so close to him and I had to take avoiding action.
“So it’s quite upsetting when your whole weekend goes away from you so quick. But looking at the pace afterwards, I don’t think we would have been able to keep up with the McLarens.”
The incident on Lap 1 cost Russell a front wing endplate to contest the remainder of the 53-lap Italian GP affair and Russell said it had a big impact on his pace en route to a seventh-place finish.
“It lost a huge amount of performance for stint one so we had to pit it at Lap 8,” the Mercedes driver explained.
“Obviously you’ve changed the wing, slow stop. It was a really disappointing day but ultimately we didn’t have the pace.”
That lack of pace is a far cry from where Mercedes were before racing at Zandvoort at Monza and Russell was keen to point out how Formula 1’s pecking order is a confusing prospect at the present moment.
Ferrari, a team that was comfortably fourth best at the Belgian Grand Prix emerged after the summer break as a podium contender at Zandvoort and Charles Leclerc scored an astonishing victory at Monza.
Red Bull meanwhile, a team that won all but one of the races run in 2023 hasn’t scored a GP victory across the last six rounds.
“The sport’s a bit strange at the moment with how Red Bull have lost so much pace,” Russell said.
“Ferrari seem to be struggling Zandvoort and all the races prior, but then they were so quick on Sunday in Zandvoort and this whole weekend, I don’t really know [why].”
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