George Russell overcomes mechanical problems and more to take P2 in Bahrain GP

George Russell had to overcome numerous obstacles to hold on to second in the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix. He had to keep a hard-charging Lando Norris at bay over the closing laps. He needed to make a 25-lap stint on a set of soft tires work despite high levels of tire degradation.

He also needed to do all of that while experiencing multiple mechanical failures on his W16 over the final stretch of the race.

“Yeah, it felt all under control for a moment and then suddenly we had a brake-by-wire failure,” explained Russell trackside after the race. “So suddenly the pedal was going long, and then it was going short ... I didn’t know what was going on. The steering wheel wasn’t working properly, so it was really hard fought to keep Lando behind. I think one more lap, he would have got me pretty comfortably. But nevertheless, really, really pleased with P2.”

That was not the only problem Russell was experiencing as the Bahrain Grand Prix drew to a close. He was also experiencing a problem with the DRS system on his W16, which required the team to perform an override on the system during the race. At one point Russell hit the radio button on his steering wheel and the DRS opened, which triggered an investigation by race officials following the Grand Prix.

Russell was cleared of any wrongdoing, given the mechanical failure and the fact that no sporting advantage was gained.

“Yeah, we basically were having all sorts of failures and basically we did an override on the DRS,” added Russell. “And on one lap, I clicked the radio button and the DRS opened, so I straightaway closed it again, backed off—nothing gained. I lost more than I gained, it was only open for a split second, so kind of goes to show you the amount of issues we were having. But, as I said, really pleased with P2.”

The Mercedes driver admitted that keeping Norris at bay to finish second was a “pleasing” result.

Yeah, I mean, I’ve not actually had that many P2s to be honest. I’ve had a few P3s, but we did not expect to be anywhere close to McLaren this weekend. Qualifying on the front row was a real surprise. And then seeing Lando right up there on lap one behind me, I thought, ‘He’s going to fly off into the distance here.’ Oscar did an amazing job to control the race, but to keep Lando at bay, I was really, really pleased about,” added Russell.

The result added 18 points to Russell’s account on the year, bringing his total to 63 on the season. That has the Mercedes driver just six points behind reigning champion Max Verstappen, and only 14 points behind current title leader Norris.

Is Russell a title contender this year?

“I’d love to say so, but I don’t think we are, to be honest,” conceded Russell.

“McLaren are just too dominant right now. I think this is probably going to be their peak performance – what we saw this week in Bahrain. And what we saw in China and Suzuka is probably their worst-case scenario and they still obviously got one victory from those two races. So we’ve got to keep on picking up the points, picking up the pieces,” added the Mercedes driver. “And this weekend we picked up the pieces to get a P2 – and we did it in Melbourne as well to get the P3. I don’t expect this to continue for many races to come, but who knows.”