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George Russell recently criticized F1's tire manufacturer, Pirelli, for the massive difference in pace and overall inconsistency between tire compounds. The Mercedes driver shed light on how different tires massively turned his fortunes in the Azerbaijan GP.
The British driver had a poor start to the race at Baku. He started from P5 but went a place down as Max Verstappen overtook him. Throughout the race, he fought the defending world champion, but was only able to overtake him in the latter stages of the race, when he shifted from medium to hard tires.
In the final few laps of the race, Russell was running P5, when Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez ahead of him crashed into each other. This gave the Mercedes driver an opportunity to overtake both and bag a P3 podium finish.
After the race, George Russell told F1.com that he was confused as to how he ended up on the podium after a poor start to the race. He further raised concerns over how unpredictable Pirelli tires are and the amount of pace difference two different compounds make.
"Honestly, it's actually pretty infuriating that it changes this much, and it's not just Mercedes, it's every team and every driver. One session you are fast, the next you are not. And it's only one thing that changes," Russell said.
He termed the pace difference "black magic" and expressed his disappointment towards the Italian tire makers, saying:
"It is black magic I think even the people that make the tires, don't understand the tires. I think we all need serious conversations about what's going on.
"20 laps of the race we had a car that was comfortable of fighting for victory, the 20 other laps we had a car that probably should not have been in the ponts. And the only difference is the tires," he concluded.
George Russell comments on his rollercoaster of a race at Azerbaijan GP
After bagging a surprising P3 finish at the 2024 F1 Azerbaijan GP, George Russell gave his initial thoughts on his podium finish.
The Mercedes driver first expressed his relief that both Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez were okay after their crash, which was the main reason Russell clinched P3. He then explained his poor start to the race but how his fortunes changed when he switched to hard tires in the latter stages.
"We had a really bad start to the race. I was dropping off a lot. But on the hard tire I think we were one of the quickest out there and that was great. Got past Max. So an added bonus to stand on the podium," Russell was quoted as saying by F1.com.
George Russell currently stands in seventh place with 143 points. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton, is in sixth place with 166 points.
