Russell laments current F1: “Race to Turn 1” after US GP

George Russell Criticizes Modern Formula 1 After the United States Grand Prix

Mercedes driver George Russell has expressed his concern about the direction Formula 1 has taken, suggesting that current races have been reduced to a simple “race to the first corner”. This comes after a United States Grand Prix with few thrills. The race, which promised to be epic at the Circuit of the Americas, was characterized by a limited number of overtakes throughout the field. Max Verstappen’s victory was the thirteenth time in this year’s 19 races that the driver starting from pole position took the victory. Russell, who started fifth, finished sixth, losing a position to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the start.

Right now, in F1 it’s a race to the first corner. There’s no tire degradation, there are only three tenths of a second between the fastest and slowest car of the top six.

George Russell

Russell explained that, normally, it takes at least half a second to overtake. If he had come out of the first corner in third position, he would have been on the podium. However, coming out in sixth position, he finished sixth.

Lando Norris, from McLaren, pulled off some overtakes in his fight with Charles Leclerc, from Ferrari, although the different tire strategies of both drivers contributed to this. Formula 1 has struggled to find a solution to improve wheel-to-wheel racing. The Drag Reduction System (DRS) will be replaced with next year’s rule changes, but it has previously been compared to a temporary solution for deeper problems, mainly related to the difficulty modern F1 cars have in following each other. Pirelli, the long-time F1 tire supplier, has often been blamed for the state of its tires, but Russell explained that it is unfair to focus solely on that aspect.

Pirelli receives constant criticism, no matter what. When there is a lot of tire degradation, people say it’s not real, that the drivers can’t push when they have to manage… [then] we don’t like it when there is no tire degradation, we say it’s a boring race.

George Russell

Russell went on to say that, ideally, a tire that would allow you to go flat out would be desired, but that would degrade after a few laps, forcing several pit stops. However, this is easier said than done. “Pirelli tries very hard, they have done the best they can, and they have given us a substantially better tire, this tire is very good, but it causes bad races.”