George Russell had a tough Grand Prix in Las Vegas. The British driver qualified fourth with power steering issues, and these problems resurfaced on Sunday. Despite the recurring issue, Russell impressively secured third place – later even upgraded to P2 after the disqualification of both McLaren drivers.
Russell was already struggling with the issues in Q3. The Brit ‘really struggled to get through the corners’ and eventually qualified fourth. In the race, the power steering problems re-emerged, this time even earlier than expected. “From about lap five, I had the steering problem again, exactly the same as in qualifying,” Russell explained. “Every lap was so painful. I was getting slower, and slower, and slower. I really thought: ‘This is not fun’. P3 was the maximum today; apart from lap one, it was just not a pleasant race.”
Despite the disappointment, Russell sees a clear difference with last year’s Mercedes. “If you look at the average of this season… Last year we were poor in Singapore, this year we won there. In Las Vegas, we were dominant then, and now we are on the podium,” he said. According to Russell, this is no coincidence. “We now have a car that performs better over 24 races. Last year we had a car that was either extremely dominant or just poor. This year it is more consistent. That might mean fewer standout moments, but more points over a whole season.”
