Mercedes‘ George Russell revealed a bout of pneumonia last year made him think better of jumping into the world-famous Bellagio fountain following his stunning victory at the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Russell won from pole position at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit with complete ease, controlling proceedings from start to finish.
As has become standard procedure following last year’s initial Las Vegas GP, the podium ceremony took place in front of the Bellagio.
However, after taking ill last winter, Russell thought better of taking a celebratory swim.
“I really wanted to do it, but I was so cold after the race, I thought, like, I’m going to get super ill and this time last year I actually caught pneumonia and I was ill all the way into mid-February after Vegas and Abu Dhabi,” Russell revealed.
“So I was like, you know, in the moment I really wanted to do it, but then I was thinking back to the struggles I had this time 12 months ago because it’s such a toll on the body.
“It’s from all the champagne, to be honest, why I was soaking wet.”
Mercedes Las Vegas pace ‘a real surprise’
Mercedes turned up in Las Vegas having scored just a single podium since the summer break, courtesy of Russell at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Silver Arrows’ hopes rested on the cool nighttime temperatures and that paid dividends in vegas with Lewis Hamilton going fastest in FP1 and FP2, with Russell topping final practice.
Moreover, after Russell’s pole and victory, Hamilton charged through from 10th to second in the Grand Prix to confirm Mercedes’ strong pace.
“It’s been a real surprise seeing how strong our pace has been and securing the pole yesterday I was so pleased with,” Russell said.
“And then I think we won the race in stint one. To be honest, stint one was exceptional.
“And I knew from there on in the only way we would probably lose the victory is if I grained the tyres and opened them up.
“So it was just a case of managing my pace, managing in the right corners and bringing it home.
“On tracks like this where it’s relatively smooth, we can get the car quite low, quite stiff, with little or no bumps around the track, we fly.”
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