Russell stars but is denied in F2
George Russell is on a roll, and he was the fastest man at Silverstone. But events conspired against him and allowed Alexander Albon to take victory
The momentum behind George Russell coming into Silverstone was such that it felt like a foregone conclusion. And while the weekend didn’t go perfectly to plan, he left having extended the Formula 2 points lead he had wrested from Lando Norris last time out in Austria.
While the mechanics and team members might have been sporting haggard faces at the end of three consecutive race weekends in three different countries, and the home fans were paying as much attention to the football on the big screens as the action on track, everything went to plan for Russell on Friday. Incredibly, the Mercedes Formula 1 junior was fastest by seven tenths in practice, and he believed that his pole margin of 0.076s was unrepresentative of his pace. “When you are so far ahead in practice, you don’t take the risk you would previously,” he said, adding that his ART Grand Prix team had filled his car with an extra lap of fuel. “For example, in places where you could go over track limits – which everyone was doing – but because I was so far ahead, I didn’t want to risk it.
“In another corner I kept it in one gear to avoid hitting the limiter, whereas if I’d have to have given it everything, I might have gone for it. If I approached qualifying the same as I did in practice, we wouldn’t have been seven tenths ahead but we would have probably been four tenths ahead.” If that’s not confidence, what is?
As it happened, Russell cemented an early lead, but at the first opportunity he pitted and it all went wrong. At the stop, his wheel-changer had to grasp for the backup wheel gun, costing valuable time that allowed British-born Thai Alexander Albon to steal a march into the lead of the race.
Shortly after, a second nail deflated Russell’s race in the shape of a pitlane-speeding penalty on the pit exit. While investigations continue into that, it cost Russell five seconds and that effectively put an end to his victory bid.
While the resurfaced Silverstone circuit provided more grip, the extreme heat (up around 20 degrees centigrade on the normal
track temperature here), allied to this being the first time the hard tyre had been used on the F2 2018 car, meant drivers were ultra-cautious and unsure of how the tyres would perform. That meant the pits was the best opportunity for jumping positions.
“I’d say the pits decided the race,” said Albon. “It was quite clear for me on lap two that it’s a track where it’s very difficult to follow and it’s easy to overheat your tyres. We did go into the pits banking on that if we were to make a move, it would be there. But then we were very fortunate. George had an issue and my guys did a very good job – we were really fast and it’s been something we’ve been working on through the year. We realised it was something we needed to work on, and every race we’ve been getting faster and faster. It was a race where my team made me win.”
In truth, it wasn’t just the pitstop. DAMS remains secretive on what it did to its cars between Austria and Britain, but it had worked as a fundamental set-up change. Silverstone is also a track less reliant on brakes, an area where DAMS struggled in the Red Bull Ring’s heavy braking zones.
Russell’s pace was good and he dropped back late on for clean air to go for fastest lap, which he achieved, adding two points to his already strong points haul during his race to second. The pit penalty made no difference.
At Silverstone, Charouz Racing System enjoyed a much-improved qualifying, with Antonio Fuoco third and Louis Deletraz fourth. Last time out in Austria, Fuoco had challenged for victory, the Italian Ferrari junior driving from 13th to third and believing he could have won had the team’s Friday pace been better. At Silverstone, the tables turned and he spent most of the race looking like his podium was in doubt.
Sergio Sette Camara harried Fuoco, getting alongside on numerous occasions before his engine went up in flames with five laps to go. In races he’s finished, the Brazilian has been one of the most consistent and certainly the most improved driver from last year, excelling in his new surroundings at Carlin, but again he was short of luck and a lost nosecone in the sprint race meant a pointless weekend.
That secured a podium for Fuoco ahead of Deletraz – who overtook Luca Ghiotto on the last lap beautifully at Stowe – while Maxi Gunther scored eighth and the reversed-grid pole.
But what of the highest-profile of the F2 drivers, Lando Norris? He was looking forward to coming home after a tricky weekend at the Red Bull Ring had cost him his points lead, but a St George’s cross on his Carlin car’s rear wing did not bring good luck as he stalled in his pitbox.
“We were pretty quick but I made a mistake and it cost us a lot,” he said.
“It’s an error from me because there’s the possibility of me doing a very slow pull away [to avoid stalling], slipping the clutch as much as possible. I came in just behind [Arjun] Maini and when there’s an opportunity you can overtake them in the pits. You don’t react like you’re on a road, just driving; you react a lot quicker, but even then it wasn’t like I just dumped the clutch.”
He fought back to 10th, with strong race pace, and made up for that disappointment in the sprint race, which produced one of the overtaking moves of the season and interesting stories throughout.
Russell started seventh and Norris 10th, and both fought their way through the field, this time with the football decided and the undivided attention of the adoring home fans. ART driver Russell made Village his favourite spot, overtaking five cars in total to set up a showdown with Gunther. With three laps to go the gap was 4.4 seconds and at the flag it was 0.5s,
Russell’s efforts just about rebuffed as Gunther and his Arden team’s tough season got a shot in the arm.
“It’s giving us a big boost,” said the German graduate of European Formula 3. “In recent weekends we often didn’t have the pace. Now we are making small steps in the right direction and if you can get into the top eight on the first day, your weekend can turn around.”
Norris was as aggressive as Russell in his desire to scythe through the field. He got held up and eased off the road by Albon early on, which cost him time and tyre wear, but he came alive at mid-race distance and pulled off the overtaking move of the season so far.
With four laps to go, Artem Markelov attacked Nyck de Vries at Stowe, and Norris used his momentum out of the corner to post his stamp around the outside of Vale into the left-hander, passing both and squeezing the inside line for right at Club to consolidate the spot. It would give him the podium and, in recounting the move, a Ricciardo-sized grin.
It was made all the more impressive by the fact that he was carrying bent steering after clashing with Fuoco two laps earlier. Norris held the outside at Brooklands but was forced off the track by Fuoco. When Norris rejoined, he hit Fuoco, who crashed out at Luffield. Both drivers blamed the other and the stewards pointlessly penalised Fuoco 10 seconds for forcing a driver off the track, after he had already retired.
The race was incredibly important for Norris. Russell had pulled off a similar drive through the field to second in the Red Bull Ring sprint race, and Norris couldn’t match it in what he describes as “by far my worst season ever”. But Silverstone could be the sign that Carlin is edging its way to a return to a winning set-up, as Norris was this time able to replicate Russell’s forward momentum in the race.
But there’s more to Russell’s pace. He’s mastered the tyres in a way others struggle to, or at least struggle to so consistently. “I’ve been almost in a lucky position that I’ve had two races, with the stall in Bahrain
and the issue [throttle sensor] we had in Paul Ricard, to try things and understand the tyre better,” said Russell. “I think that’s put me in good stead for the season.
“We’ve turned the negative into positives. Every race I’ve done, I’ve learned something. I feel like we’re on top of the tyres and we know what to do to extract the maximum. I think some other drivers and teams, they don’t understand why they are quick and why they are slow. That’s my feeling. I know it’s still early days but I have good confidence and good feeling. We saw good pace from DAMS and Alex yesterday, but they struggled today.”
Indeed, Albon could only manage seventh, and the Saturday winner couldn’t follow Russell and Norris. “It was really tough,” he said. “George and Lando both upped their pace from yesterday and I could tell from lap one we wouldn’t be able to match it. We’re a little bit confused by it.”
Markelov, Deletraz and Ghiotto jumped the disappointing de Vries on the final tour, although Ghiotto was pinged for a virtual safety car infringement, promoting Ralph Boschung into the points.
In the standings, Russell, Norris and Albon lead the way, but Russell’s advantage is 37 points. He has the set-up pinned, but there’s hope for Norris with his show of pace at Silverstone, while DAMS needs to work out what caused Albon’s lack of form in the sprint race if he’s to stay in touch – he’s now 54 points behind Russell.
Russell has all the elements to run away with the championship, and Norris appears to be the only one able to threaten him.