George Russell delivered a commanding performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend. The Mercedes driver took pole position and won the race at the Baku City Circuit. The victory immediately sparked an intriguing paddock debate: has Russell unlocked the secret to his car's performance?
Former IndyCar driver and F1 TV pundit James Hinchcliffe raised that question on the F1 Nation podcast. He believes Russell's dominance over teammate Kimi Antonelli is no coincidence. "What's interesting for me is even at other tracks when George has been able to pull out good laps in practice, a good qualifying effort, in the race Kimi's always still had the edge, even when George has won," Hinchcliffe said.
The Italian started from 16th on the grid after crashing in qualifying. Despite that, he finished fifth and collected 10 points, while Russell took home 25. As a result, Russell reduced Antonelli's championship lead to 66 points.
Hinchcliffe then compared it to previous moments. "You think back to when he passed him in Barcelona before Kimi's car expired. He was closing down on everybody in Austria. Today they didn't have that. Kimi did not have the pace of George all weekend long," he explained. "Fine, he missed some laps in first practice, but he had FP2. He had FP3. He's a professional. He gets up to speed quickly. What I'm really curious about is, has George cracked the code a little bit? Has he found something? Has he figured out how to get that extra step of performance out of this car? Because at no point this weekend was Kimi anywhere close to his level."
Nevertheless, Hinchcliffe stopped short of drawing a conclusion. "And I'm not saying that he has, but I'm curious if we get to Malaysia, if we get to Singapore, if we start seeing him closer, especially in race pace, maybe he has finally started to put all the pieces together," he added.
Russell's dominance in Baku was indeed striking. From free practice, he showed consistency and speed that Antonelli struggled to match. This win signals that Russell is increasingly comfortable with the W15, and may have found the right setup for his driving style.
For Mercedes, Russell's performance is a breath of fresh air. The Brackley-based team is fighting to catch Red Bull and Ferrari in the constructors' championship. With Russell consistently at the front, hopes of moving higher are growing.
Meanwhile, Antonelli still leads the drivers' standings. However, pressure from Russell and others like Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc will only intensify. The next races in Malaysia and Singapore will be the real test: has Russell truly "cracked the code" or was Baku just a one-off?
Baca Juga
George Russell dominasi GP Azerbaijan, menang dan pole. James Hinchcliffe bertanya apakah Russell telah 'memecahkan kode' performa Mercedes. Simak analisisnya.
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Valtteri Bottas tertinggal jauh dari Sergio Perez di GP Azerbaijan. Simak penyebab dan analisis performa Cadillac di Baku.
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