How George Russell missed winning the Sakhir Grand Prix – Twice.

For those who have been following the recent events in the Sakhir Grand Prix, well you know that it’s a race to remember for many reasons. Today in this article we will be talking about one of those reasons, for those who haven’t been following the F1 world so much lately.

So as Lewis Hamilton tested positive for COVID-19, he had to be replaced by someone else in his position due to the Formula One regulations. So Mercedes picked up George Russell, a young man hailing from England who was with Williams Racing in the current Grand Prix. Everybody thought that no racing driver could ever replace Lewis Hamilton, but young George was out to prove them wrong.

George Russell, 22

Off to a great start, but a shaky ending.

Right at the starting line, he gets a great start and as Turn 1 ends, he comes into the lead. He maintains this lead for a staggering 63 laps while his teammate Valtteri Bottas loses pole position and goes into 5th place in the 63rd lap due to his brakes catching fire which made his pit stop team unable to change his tyres properly. Right around this time, the most devasted mistake was made by the Mercedes pit stop team – they mixed up Russell’s and Bottas’ tyre types. This meant that each of the two had a mixed tyre type in their car right when they were leading. So George Russell was called into the pits again to have his tyres changed.

Few laps into the race, the young man who was leading the race is now in 5th place while his teammate Bottas is in 4th place. By lap 72, George Russell comes back into 3rd place after overtaking his teammate Bottas and by lap 73 he comes into 2nd position after overtaking Esteban Ocon. Everything was looking good so far for Russell until left rear tyre got punctured with just 8 more laps left for the race to finish. This forced him to get into the pits once again and also made him lose the podium position.

Russell racing in his Mercedes F1 car during the Sakhir Grand Prix 2020 Russell racing in his Mercedes F1 car during the Sakhir Grand Prix 2020

After the race.

At the end of the race, after all the hard work he had gone through, he had to settle for a measly 9th place while Sergio Perez took the winner’s spot in the Sakhir Grand Prix. He too was a well-deserving candidate for the prize at this race.

Although he couldn’t get a podium position, he surely did get the much-needed recognition for giving a great fight during this race. He was aptly given the title of “Driver of the Day” to commend his efforts throughout the race.

After the race, everyone was talking about this new guy who was so close to winning his first-ever race. In an interview after the race, George Russell himself said, “That was probably our (victory)one”. So that is how George Russell missed winning the Sakhir Grand Prix – Twice.

 

Links and References:

(273) George Russell reacts to Mercedes' pit stop confusion & his first ever F1 points | Sakhir GP - YouTube

George Russell (racing driver) - Wikipedia

(273) 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix: Race Highlights - YouTube

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