George Russell said he was frustrated by the McLaren drivers’ tactics in the sprint race at Losail, which ended his hopes of challenging to win.
Lando Norris held the lead from pole position while Norris was passed by the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri at the start. Over much of the 19-lap race, McLaren urged Norris to constrain his pace to ensure Piastri remained within a second of him and could therefore use his DRS.Despite this, Russell was able to attack Piastri on several occasions. However he wasn’t able to overtake the McLaren and finished third.
Norris then allowed Piastri to overtake him to win, repaying him for their position swap in the sprint race at Interlagos. Russell admitted he didn’t like seeing team orders like these in F1.
“It is frustrating when you have team orders in front of you and it’s two against one,” he said after the race.
McLaren’s one-two finish means they can clinch the constructors’ championship in tomorrow’s grand prix. “You’ve got to respect them for chasing their goal, which is to win the constructors’,” Russell admitted.
“If Lando went into the distance, I’m very confident I would have passed Piastri and that’s one less point for them. So frustration in the moment, but I’ll take the positives, the car was quick.”
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2024 Qatar Grand Prix
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BasCB (@bascb)
30th November 2024, 16:34
If McLaren had worked together like Norris showcased with Piastri today in Hungary, Monza and a few other opportunities the team can really fight for titles.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
30th November 2024, 17:10
Lol. Says the man who was begging for Lewis to give him DRS in Japan last year to defend from Sainz.
Please demote him from the GPDA chairman role, the guy is a hypocrite.
Gary Simmons (@gsimmonsonca)
30th November 2024, 17:23
While George is right that I don’t like it… it’s pretty hypocritical for him to point it out when he has previously been on the radio asking for Lewis to do it!
I would also suggest that Lando is being self-serving here too. If he hangs back to give Oscar DRS… Oscar won’t attack him so it gives Lando extra protection.
MichaelN
30th November 2024, 17:30
Well, at least someone has finally admitted it.
The 2022 cars are a big failure.
Gusm.ai
30th November 2024, 18:03
“DRS trains” are a definitive example of what would happen without DRS – no one would risk a overtake.
Cars would need to be 2sec faster to be able to approach and try an overtake.
PeteB (@peteb)
30th November 2024, 18:56
You say “no-one would risk a pass” but the best drivers would. It would just eliminate the easy “push to pass” overtakes the less skilled drivers rely on.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
30th November 2024, 19:24
@peteb I wish that was true, but I don’t see it. We’ve seen in past generations and this one, that sometimes there is just no physical way a driver can attempt a pass, no matter the skill level or the stakes at play. It’s just a matter of physics. Remember Alonso having to overtake Petrov to keep his championship hopes alive in the 2010 finale? He couldn’t even get close enough to attempt a desperate dive bomb. That’s just one example. If it’s not possible to follow closely enough or gain enough on the straights, then even the best drivers are forced to follow the leader until an opportunity comes up, if it ever will.
MichaelN
30th November 2024, 19:38
F1 has done well for decades without DRS. I’m not worried about it being unable to adapt.
The first place to start would be the obvious one: tyres. The big reason following is hard is not that cars spin out of control, because while that has happened, it’s exceedingly rare and in most cases a skill issue. Rather, the decrease in downforce heats and wears the tyres at ridiculous rates. This is a design flaw and not inevitable.
DRS is actively preventing changes from being made because it “works”. But when Brawn and Liberty presented these cars, they promised they’d keep revising them to ensure the original goals would continue to be met. That hasn’t happened at all. Not even once.
M2X
30th November 2024, 20:49
F1 hasn’t done wel for decades. Since the 80s when downforce went to a next level F1 has been extremely low on the overtaking and battling front.
When refueling came into the sport, overtaking and battling slumped to an all time low. Remember the Trulli trains?!
Downforce means dirty air which means unable to follow, which means no battles on track.
The tracks that are being raced on aren’t for downforce cars. Yet for decades technical regulation after technical regulation just focuses on downforce for faster cars and lower laptimes.
Add to that mix a mandate for deteriorating tires and DRS is essential for any chance of on track battles.
With Ross Brawn’s technical regulations atleast they tried to change this cycle. Only to bow down to complaints from teams, Mercedes, and made changes to the floor that made cars more sensitive to dirty air.
It’s in the end very simple, you either create tracks purely for downforce cars, meaning you will end up with tracks with banked corners, or you change the technical regulations in such a way that cars can compete on the tracks they are racing. Which means smaller cars, lower weight, lower downforce, more robust tyres.
And even then, when you look at professional karting, on track battling is going to be sparse, trains will be the norm, and everyone will be waiting for their opponent to make a mistake on which they can capitalize.
So F1 cars also need to be extremely difficult to drive, otherwise mistakes will also be at a minimum.
PeteB (@peteb)
30th November 2024, 18:53
Speaking as a fan (and not as a driver), I actually quite like it. It removes the easy, non-interesting DRS passes and forces drivers to overtake properly. Sadly Russell wasn’t quite up to the task today.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
30th November 2024, 19:24
Don’t make me laugh George!
Tacit (@tacit)
30th November 2024, 21:56
Crikey!
Dude cries on TV too much.