George Russell feels the F1 Sprint races need to be longer before he can be called a fan of them. The Briton endured a difficult time during the first Sprint race of the season at the 2022 F1 Imola GP. Russell, however, redeemed himself during the feature race and managed to hold on to P4 for the Silver Arrows.
Speaking in an interview carried by motorsport.com following the race at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Russell shared his thoughts saying:
“I’m not a major fan of it [Sprint races], in all honesty. It needs to be probably 50% longer, or just that little bit longer to see the tires degrading. The drivers maybe need to manage the tires a bit more, and then you can see a bit more of a difference between cars. At the moment, everyone is just going flat out, and there’s not a big enough lap time difference to see those overtakes, unless you qualify out of position like you saw with some cars.”
While Sprint races are expected to be 100km dashes to the finish line, many in the F1 paddock have been debating whether they should be made longer. George Russell, however, will have to stay content with the current iteration of Sprint until such time that the F1 decides to change it.
“It’s the most extreme I’ve ever felt it” – George Russell on the drastic porpoising experience in the Mercedes W13
George Russell admitted the porpoising he experienced during the 2022 F1 Imola GP was ‘the most extreme’ he had ever felt.
Following his impressive P4 finish, the 24-year-old confessed to struggling with chest and back pains as a result of the bouncing of the Mercedes W13. In an interview, Russell said:
“When the car is in the right window and the tires are in the right window, the car – except for the bouncing – feels really good to drive. But the bouncing: it really takes your breath away. It’s the most extreme I’ve ever felt it. I really hope we find a solution and I hope every team struggling with the bouncing finds a solution, because it’s not sustainable for the drivers to continue. This is the first weekend I’ve truly been struggling with my back, and almost like chest pains from the severity of the bouncing. It’s just what we have to do to go and do the fastest laps.”
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Mercedes will be trying to find solutions to their various problems before it is time to jet off to America for the first-ever F1 Miami GP.
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