RUSSELL EXTENDS FORMULA 2 LEAD
British driver scores two podium finishes to tight en his grip on formula 2 title chase
George Russell followed up a dominant run of form to extend his points lead and increase the amount he’s being talked about in Formula 1 circles after a pair of seconds at Silverstone last weekend in the third round of a Formula 2 triple-header.
A set-up breakthrough before Paul Ricard three weekends ago and a mastery of the degradation-heavy Pirelli tyres means Russell has finished on the podium in all but one of the last six races, taking feature race wins in Paul Ricard and the Red Bull Ring with pole positions in both.
After going 0.7s quicker than anyone in practice at Silverstone, the team and driver went cautious both in and out of the car, avoiding track limits penalties, and they put an extra lap of fuel in the car. He still took pole. But while the fans watched England beating Sweden on the big screens, Russell’s race fell apart when he pitted on lap six.
His front-left wheel changer had to revert to the back-up gun after issues with the first, delaying his stop and allowing Alexander Albon into the lead. An additional five-second penalty for pitlane speeding, which is still being investigated, cost Russell even more, and he dropped back late on to find clear air in a successful bid to take two points for fastest lap, second being secured in the process.
His fellow British F1 hopeful Lando Norris stalled in his pit meaning he could only manage 10th, but both he and Russell drove through the field in Sunday’s race. Russell took second from seventh while Norris rounded out the podium from 10th.
With three laps to go Russell began erasing a four-second gap to eventual winner Maxi Gunther and hacked it down to 0.5s at the finish, while Norris passed Artem Markelov and Nyck de Vries in the same corner, Vale, in an audacious move.
Russell’s momentum means his championship lead is up to 37 points over Norris. “I feel like we’re on top of the tyres and we know what to do to extract the maximum,” he said. “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.”
Norris describes this as “by far my worst season ever”, but added: “Hopefully I’ve learned from everything I’ve done so far and I can be on the rise again.”