Mercedes has announced that George Russell will skip the media sessions on Thursday in Baku. According to the team, the driver is not feeling well and is resting to be as fit as possible for the first training sessions of the weekend.
Russell has cancelled all his usual media obligations for Thursday so he can focus on his recovery. Earlier this season, Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc also had to miss a media day due to illness, but both were recovered in time to still participate in the race weekend. In place of Russell, Kimi Antonelli will take his place during the FIA press conference.
Mercedes expects the Brit to be fit enough to participate in the free practice sessions. If Russell is unable to compete this weekend, Mercedes still has reserve drivers Frederik Vesti and Valtteri Bottas on standby. However, Bottas still has to serve a five-place grid penalty due to an incident with Kevin Magnussen during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year.
