George Russell told his team he wanted to switch to slick tyres even earlier than he did in today’s sprint race, and believes they missed a chance to score more points.
The Mercedes driver was the first to risk switching from intermediate tyres to slicks as the track dried during the race. He came in on the 16th lap of 24, but believes he could have made the change “a couple of laps earlier, to be honest.”He said it was difficult to judge how quickly the track was drying at the time as he was running close behind Alexander Albon, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris prior to his pit stop.
“In those conditions when you’re stuck behind cars it’s really difficult to recognise if it’s spray from the cars ahead or if it’s actually a wet track,” he said. “So it’s really difficult to judge.
“But I was confident the track was [ready for] slicks. Obviously there were only 13 laps to go, so I was telling my team ‘if this is qualifying, I’d be taking slicks now’.”
Russell climbed to eighth place after his tyre change. He crossed the finishing line just nine-thousandths of a second behind Esteban Ocon in seventh, while Nico Hulkenberg was another five seconds ahead.
He is confident he could have switched to slick tyres earlier than he did and believes he could have finished higher up.
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“I love these conditions, I love the transition, I feel confident in those early laps to feel the grip,” said Russell. “One, two more laps we would have been three positions higher.”
“I said for the two laps prior, ‘if this was qualifying, I’d be boxing now for slicks’,” he added. “Then it’s down to the team, because then it’s up to them to determine if the risk is worth it.
“We had good pace even on the inters, so we may have made one or two more positions, but it was a team team effort and damage limitation.”
However Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he thought the team changed Russell onto slicks too early at the time.
“We made that early call for the slicks, which I thought was a lap too early but proved to be the right call,” he said.
Mercedes could afford to gamble with their strategy as Russell’s starting position was compromised by the hydraulic failure he suffered in qualifying earlier in the day, said Wolff.
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“I don’t think this race was important for us because when you’re starting so far back then you don’t collect a lot of points,” he explained. “We just try to do the best without thinking that there was a prize to win.
“So we took that very early call knowing that if you want to do something different, you need to take a risk, and that’s what we did. [It was a] brilliant decision from the strategy team. I personally thought it was a lap or two too early, but they made the call and it was bang on, spectacularly right.
“I’m not sure that in a long race, in the real grand prix on Sunday, we would take a similar bold decision. But it paid off and maybe there’s something to learn from it.”
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David BR (@david-br)
1st July 2023, 18:57
It was a good call by Russell. Mercedes could have brought him when he suggested the idea, it seemed like the best gamble (if it worked, he’d have had the extra few laps to make up even more laps, if it failed, no points lost anyhow). Maybe next time don’t think about it so much and go with the driver’s instinct.
CarWars (@maxv)
1st July 2023, 19:10
Then do it, change 3 laps earlier.
Xzo
1st July 2023, 20:18
(@maxv)
Ah yes, George should have driven into the pits and changed the tyres himself.
He already suggested so, what more do you expect him to do – drive into the pits and wait for them to bring the tyres to him?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd July 2023, 0:19
Just say: get the tyres ready, I’m pitting next lap and I’m not asking for a confirmation, it’s the right time!
Michael
1st July 2023, 20:47
I think Russell is wrong to be honest – just on game theory. If he pitted three laps earlier and showed decent pace straight away (within a couple of seconds two of inter pace) everyone would pit as no one would think it worthwhile to spend 10 laps on inters which would lose pace. He would have lost more ground than he did as he would be the one driving more of the borderline laps. Remember Hamilton actually overcut him at first.
Russell pitting when he did and showing pace when he did, tempted some to stay out and others to pit too late. If he had pitted earlier everyone else would have pitted at the optimum time.
bosyber (@bosyber)
1st July 2023, 22:23
Thanks for this comment, it sort of solidifies my musing upon reading the article, and watching the sprint. This when to pit to dry/inters/wets is always an interesting issue, and it clearly depends on one’s track position (for Verstappen pitting was never really an option though in the longer race it would have been at some point, I suppose).
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd July 2023, 0:23
And verstappen had such a gap he could’ve afforded to pit, knowing they had no chance to keep him behind on slicks, he would have emerged just behind perez, sainz and the astons and they’d have been easy pickings.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
2nd July 2023, 0:22
Yes, was thinking the same: if the transition had been 3 laps earlier it’d have been enough to make the front runners change the tyres too, and then they’d be all on slicks, instead as it went it was on the cusp of “change or not?” and russell was the one who did it at the right time. Perhaps 1 lap earlier could’ve gained him some more time, but too much and the others pit too.