Photo credits: Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix concluded with yet another 2023 Red Bull Racing victory. The current F1 Constructors’ Champions are a clear favourite to retain the title they claimed ahead of 8-time consecutive winners Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team last year. Meanwhile, having had a miserable qualifying, race day in Miami at least brought the Silver Arrows some hope that they are turning a corner. George Russell, starting P6 would cross the finish line in P4 and just missed out on the final step of the podium to Fernando Alonso by under 7 seconds. A result showing some improvement by Mercedes but Russell told media post race “We couldn’t have done more today. I’m proud of that but of course we want more, and we want races like this today to be for the win.”
Charles Leclerc’s collision with a barrier the previous day in qualifying had brought out a red flag and prevented the session being resumed. As such, this prevented teams having a final flying lap and produced a mixed up grid for Sunday’s spectacle. George Russell had produced a lap time good enough for a P6 starting grid slot while his teammate Lewis Hamilton was way back on the seventh row of the grid and would start P13. For his part, Hamilton would finish Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix in an impressive P6 which (coupled with Russell’s tally) ensured a haul of 20 points for Mercedes compared with Aston Martin’s Sunday total of 15. As a result of this, Mercedes are just 6 points behind Aston Martin (who sit P2 in the Constructors’ Championship at present) and this vital ground was gained in part thanks to the teamwork displayed by Lewis Hamilton.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton took different strategies with Russell starting on the medium tyre and Hamilton the hard. In their opening stints, both drivers made steady progress whilst focusing on conserving tyre life. Due to being on differing strategies, Lewis Hamilton had been directed over team radio midway though Sunday’s Grand Prix to move over for his teammate. Having done so, George Russell was then poised to battle Carlos Sainz for P4 – a position he took soon after from the Spaniard on lap 38 during a bold overtake into Turn 11 with the aid of DRS.
“The move on Carlos was really quite enjoyable, probably the fairest,” Russell told media post-race in Miami. “A good move that required a lot of commitment, because this track is so dirty offline that I wasn’t too sure how much grip I would have had or if I could make it stick.”
Any rubber laid down on the recently relaid surface in Miami had been washed away during the previous night’s downpour so running offline was a gamble and all the more impressive because of this.
“Thanks to Lewis for letting me by in those situations and allowing me to get on with my race, [he] obviously was in a different position. We’ve got a really good relationship at the moment and we only want the best for the team.”
Mercedes claimed a finishing position they had not been expecting but George Russell made clear to the media what his expectation is.
“I mean P4 in those circumstances, we probably weren’t expecting it really, quite a satisfying race,” claimed Russell. “Good overtake on the Alpines, good overtake on Carlos [Sainz]. Pace relatively speaking was strong. We couldn’t have done more today. I’m proud of that but of course we want more, and we want races like this today to be for the win.”
Red Bull Racing dominated in Miami. A fact in no way surprising to Russell as he stated: “I wasn’t really surprised, no. That’s where they [Red Bull Racing] are at the moment. We said at the start of the season they are so far ahead. They’ve got it easy at the moment. I wonder if they are even running full power, they are just so far ahead. It’s a bit of a shame for the sport, but kudos to them for the good work they’ve clearly done and shown what is possible when you get it right. That’s what we are going to be chasing and let’s see what we can achieve.”
With Miami in the record books, George Russell was unsurprisingly already looking ahead and told media: “We know where we are at the moment, and the car is still challenging to drive. We hope to have some updates on the car in Imola; they are not going to change the world for us but hopefully it will be a step in the right direction. Despite today’s positives, we know we’ve still got a lot of work to do and need to make significant improvements to close the gap to Red Bull.”
The gap was further highlighted in the post-race remarks from Mercedes Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff: “Two years ago, we wouldn’t have been as pleased with a P4 and a P6 as we are today. We know we have a difficult car though and clearly Qualifying was a real challenge. The car improved in the race, and we were able to achieve a solid result. Both drivers drove superbly today. It’s difficult to pass if you start P13 and are on the same strategy as everybody else, so we opted to start Lewis on the hard tyre. Others ahead chose to do the same and, after not gaining any positions at the start, it looked like it may be slightly diminished. We got there in the end though and maximised the result. It was also fantastic to see the way him and George worked together. They are both incredible drivers, but it is so straightforward with them. That is so good for us in this difficult moment.“
Mercedes now move on to Imola next in the hope the team will continue to make a step in their understanding of the W14. Right now the team appear focused on understanding the upgrades they bring in the hope of establishing a good baseline. What comes after that is anyone’s guess but history has shown that it would be very foolish to write off Mercedes.
